Radhika Textiles

You’ll find Radhika Textiles down in Kucha Kalyan Dass. It’s one of those narrow lanes where you have to watch your step because of the handcarts and people moving fabric rolls. Our shop is at 1476/20. It's a small space, but we pack a lot of cloth into it. We’ve been here for a long time, dealing with all kinds of fabrics. The air always smells a bit like new cotton and dyes. We don’t have air conditioning, just a big old ceiling fan that hums all day. It’s a family-run kind of thing, really. We know the other shopkeepers on the lane and we have tea together when it's slow. Business is mostly about showing samples and haggling over prices. It’s loud and busy, but that’s just how the market is. We don't use fancy computers for everything; a lot of it is still done in the ledger books. People come to us for specific prints or materials they can't find elsewhere. We spend the day unrolling bolts of cloth and measuring them out. It’s physical work and your hands get dusty by the end of it. We don't have a big sign, just our name above the door. If you get lost in the Kucha, just ask anyone for the textile guys near the corner. We stay open until the sun goes down and the market starts to clear out for the night.