Ismail General Store

Ismail General Store is right here at 123 Shivaji Nagar. If you know the Jumma Masjid area, you probably walked past us a dozen times. We are directly across from Standard Tea, which usually smells like ginger and boiling milk all morning. This shop is small, and sometimes it gets a bit cramped when the delivery guys bring in the crates of soda or the big bags of rice. The floor is old tile, and the fan on the ceiling makes a clicking noise that I’ve stopped noticing after all these years. People from around the neighborhood stop by for the basics like eggs or maybe just a packet of biscuits. It gets really busy on Fridays because of the mosque nearby. We try to keep the shelves tidy, but things get moved around by customers looking for specific brands of soap or toothbrushes. It’s just how it is. Sometimes the traffic outside is so loud we have to shout a bit to hear what someone wants. We open up pretty early, usually when the first tea drinkers are heading over to Standard Tea. There isn’t much fancy here, just rows of jars and packets. The light in the back flickers sometimes if the rain is heavy, which happens a lot in Bangalore. We’ve been in this spot for a long time, watching the street change while we just keep stocking the same daily essentials. It’s a lot of standing and talking to neighbors.