Mahaveer Fancy & General Store

You can find Mahaveer Fancy & General Store over at 6 Shalimar Bagh, just off Chitrakut Marg on Ajmer Road. It’s a decent-sized place, and we’ve been here serving the people of this area for quite some time. We keep a lot of different things on the shelves, from fancy items like bangles and ribbons to the daily staples like sugar and tea. My day starts by opening the big metal shutters and setting out some of the displays on the sidewalk. The Jaipur sun can be strong, so I have to be careful about what I put out there. Inside, it’s a bit of a maze with all the boxes and jars. I’m usually busy helping someone find a specific shade of thread or weighing out some flour. It’s a family-run kind of place, so you’ll often see my brother or cousin helping out too. We don’t have a website or anything like that; we just talk to whoever comes in. The floor is a bit worn from all the walking, but it’s a sturdy building. Sometimes the electricity goes out and we have to use candles or a small torch to see the back shelves, but we keep the shop open anyway. It’s just what we do. We know the neighbors and they know us. It’s a practical arrangement that has worked for us for years. We just try to keep the shelves full and the prices fair.