Shiva Traders

You’ll find Shiva Traders over at Court Chow on Bajakhana Road. We are right near the railway line, so the whole building shakes a little bit every time a train whistles past. We are also right across from the mini bus stand, which means there’s a constant stream of people coming into town or leaving for the villages. It’s a very noisy spot, but it’s good for business because everyone passes by our front door at some point. The shop isn't much to look at from the outside, just a standard brick building with a shutter that’s a bit hard to pull up in the mornings. Inside, we’ve got our supplies stacked up, and there’s usually a thin layer of soot from the train engines on the windowsills. We don't use any big marketing words or try to pretend we’re a huge company. We’re just a small trading outfit. My nephew helps me out with the heavy lifting and the deliveries. We spend a lot of time just watching the buses pull in and out while we wait for customers. Sometimes the traffic on Bajakhana Road gets so backed up that people just park their bikes and walk over to chat. It’s a simple way of living and working. We just stay here from morning until the last bus leaves in the evening, making sure we’ve finished everything on our list for the day and keeping the ledger updated.