Radha Rani Store

Our shop is right there in Village Salpata, just a short walk from the Shiv Temple. People usually see us when they are heading for morning prayers or coming back from the post office in Basta. It is a small place, nothing fancy, just a room where we keep everything people in the village need for their homes. Most days it is just me or one of the boys sitting on the stool waiting for someone to drop by. We spend a lot of time cleaning the dust off the shelves because the road outside gets quite busy with tractors and cycles passing by. The tea shop next door keeps us going with chai throughout the afternoon. We have been here for a while now, so everyone around the Baleshwar area knows where to find us if they run out of salt or need some household stuff. Sometimes the power goes out and we just sit outside in the shade until it comes back. It is a simple life here. We do not have big signs or anything, just the name on the door. When the temple bells ring in the evening, we start thinking about closing up for the day. It gets quiet once the sun goes down. Most of our regulars are neighbors we have known since we were kids. We just try to keep the basics in stock so nobody has to travel too far to the bigger markets. It is just a normal village store.