Floral Grove

Our place is at Vittal Mallya Road, specifically the 56th Cross in the 4th Block on Ram Mandir Road. The shop numbers are 101/102. It’s a nice area, but our work is pretty messy. We are always dealing with buckets of water and piles of leaves on the floor. The air inside is always a bit damp and smells like crushed stems. We start very early, usually before the sun is even up, to get the fresh stock in. By ten o’clock, my hands are usually stained green and cold from the water. 101/102 is a decent-sized space but we fill it up quickly with all the crates. We don’t have a lot of fancy displays. Most of the time, things are just sitting in their buckets until someone wants them. Ram Mandir Road gets busy in the afternoons, so we try to get the heavy lifting done before then. The 4th Block is a good neighborhood, and we see the same faces every morning. We have an old radio that plays mostly static, but it keeps us company. We don’t use any special chemicals or anything, just fresh water and sharp shears. It’s a lot of standing and bending over. My back usually aches by the time we close the shutters. It’s just a regular flower shop at 56th Cross. We don't make a big deal out of it.