Balki Flowers

Balki Flowers is right at number 1, opposite the VGP showroom in Malleshwaram. This part of town has a very specific feel to it. It’s more traditional. We’ve been in this exact spot for a long time. People around here like their flowers for their morning prayers. We see the same faces almost every day. It’s a small shop, not much bigger than a closet, honestly. We have buckets lined up on the sidewalk. Across the road, the VGP showroom is a big landmark, so nobody gets lost trying to find us. We don’t sell anything besides the flowers and maybe some incense sometimes. The day starts early, around four or five. We have to get the garlands ready before the sun gets too high. It’s just me and a couple of others working here. We talk to the neighbors and watch the buses go by. It’s not a fancy life. We don’t use any special refrigeration. We just rely on fresh stock coming in daily. Sometimes we run out of things by noon if there’s a festival. Other days we are sitting there until evening with plenty left over. That’s just the way it goes. We don’t try to be anything we aren’t. It’s just a local flower shop serving the people who walk these streets every morning. We get the shipments from the local markets and spend time sorting the good stuff from the bad. It's just a regular business for regular folks.