Subhash General Store

Subhash General Store is situated right at the Purani Chungi Chowki on Beawar Road in Dhola Bhatta. Being at an old junction like this means we see a lot of movement. There is always someone honking or a bus pulling over nearby. Our shop is packed with all sorts of things, maybe a bit too much sometimes. You have to watch your step so you don’t trip over a crate of soda. I spend a lot of time weighing out sugar and lentils into smaller plastic bags because that’s how most people want them. The scale we use is an old manual one, but it still works perfectly fine. We get a lot of dust from the Beawar Road, so everything needs a wipe down every few hours. It’s just a small family operation. My son helps out after his classes are over. We don’t have a fancy computer or a credit card machine; we just take cash and keep it in a wooden drawer. The walls are covered with calendars from different years that we never bothered to take down. It’s not a perfect place, but it’s where we spend our days. We know most of our customers by name and what they usually buy before they even ask for it. We just keep doing what we do, serving the people who pass through this old crossroads. We have a jar of candies at the front and a stack of old boxes in the back. It’s a bit messy, but it’s practical. I usually have a cup of tea around five while watching the traffic slow down for the night.