Arora Mishtan Bhandar

Our sweet shop is over in Masuda at Tela Chowk. It’s a corner spot that’s been in the family for a bit. We spend most of our time in the back where the big vats are, boiling down milk and frying up the different sweets. The smell of sugar and ghee is everywhere here. I’m usually behind the glass counter, rearranging the trays so everything looks okay. We make the usual stuff like laddoos and barfis. Sometimes the milk delivery is late and that throws everything off, but we manage to get the cases filled eventually. The chowk outside is always full of people, especially on festival days when everyone wants something sweet to take home. We have a few benches if people want to sit for a minute, but most just buy their boxes and leave. The floor is made of old stone and it’s seen a lot of feet over the years. I try to keep the flies away, but it’s a constant job in a sweet shop. We don't do any fancy packaging, just the standard cardboard boxes tied with a bit of string. It’s a simple life, just making sweets and selling them to the neighbors. We aren't looking to be the biggest place, just to keep making the things people like to eat when they have something to celebrate. The shop is small but it serves our neighborhood well enough for now.