Laxmi Beej Bhandar

Laxmi Beej Bhandar is our little shop on Bagru Link Road. We deal mostly with the farmers who come in from the surrounding areas looking for seeds and basic supplies for their fields. It’s a very seasonal business. When the rains are coming, the shop stays packed from morning until night with people worrying about their crops. When it’s dry, we just sit here and wait, maybe reorganize the bags or sweep the floor. We have stacks of seeds for wheat, mustard, and whatever else grows well in this soil. The bags are heavy, and moving them around keeps us busy. I’ve spent a lot of time talking to people about the weather and why one year was better than the last. We don’t have any fancy computer systems; we mostly just write everything down in the ledger and keep track of things that way. The road outside is always dusty, and there is a lot of noise from the trucks going past, but you get used to it after a while. We have been here on the link road for a good number of years. It’s not a glamorous life, but it’s what we know. We just try to keep the right stuff in stock so when a farmer comes in after a long bus ride, we actually have what he needs. It’s a simple trade, and it’s mostly about knowing the seasons and being here when the planting starts. There is always something to do even when it's quiet and no one is around at the shop today.