Rayylan Kirana

We’ve been here in Muzub Colony for a bit now, and Rayylan Kirana has become a familiar spot for people living near Roshan Gate. The space is small but we fit a lot of stuff on the wooden shelves. Mostly we see the same faces every morning. Someone needs a kilo of sugar or maybe some tea leaves because they ran out. The street outside is usually noisy with rickshaws and people heading to work. We spend a lot of time just arranging the packets so they don't fall over. It is dusty work sometimes because of the traffic and the wind. My hands usually have a bit of flour on them by noon. We keep the doors open all day unless it rains really hard. It’s just a normal kirana shop where things get weighed and put into plastic bags. We don't have fancy lights or anything like that. Just the basic stuff people need to cook their dinner. Sometimes the children from the colony come in for one single chocolate or a small packet of chips. We know most of their names by now. It is a quiet kind of life here at Roshan Gate, just counting change and making sure the jars are full. When the sun goes down, the lights come on and it feels a bit different. We close up when the street finally gets quiet. The summer heat in Aurangabad makes the afternoon slow, so we sit under the old ceiling fan and wait for the evening rush.