Manak Ji Ki Dukan

Everyone around Vijay Nagar just calls it Manak Ji Ki Dukan. It’s sitting right there in Bapu Bazaar. It’s not a big supermarket or anything like that, just a regular shop where you can get your daily needs. I’ve lived in Vijaynagar my whole life, and being in Bapu Bazaar feels like being at home. The market is always loud with people shouting and scooters honking their horns, but you get used to it after a few years. We sell a bit of everything, from notebooks for the school kids to pulses and tea leaves for the kitchen. There’s a wooden stool by the door where I sit when there aren't many customers. It’s a good spot to watch the people go by. Sometimes the neighbors come in just to talk about the weather or the price of onions, and they might not even buy anything that day. That’s just how it goes in a small town bazaar. The shelves are quite high, so I have to use a long stick to reach the stuff at the top sometimes. It’s an old-fashioned way of doing things, I suppose. We don't have a fancy computer to do the bills; we just write it down in the ledger. It keeps things simple and we don't have to worry about the power going out. My son says we should get a computer, but I like the ledger just fine.