Karnataka Emporium

If you go down Kengalhanumanthaiah Road toward Chowk Bazar, you will see us right there opposite the BMTC. It’s a lively spot because of all the people getting off the buses and looking for things to buy. We have been here at number 21 for a long time now. The shop is filled with all sorts of things like fabrics and traditional items that people like to keep in their homes. It’s not a big modern mall, just a regular shop where the shelves are packed tight. Every morning we open up the shutters and sweep the floor because the road outside brings in a lot of dust. We spend a lot of our time showing different colors of cloth to customers who can’t quite make up their minds. Sometimes it gets a bit crowded inside when a big group comes in from the bus station. We don't really do any big ads, people just know we are here because of the location and the sign. The wooden furniture in the shop is old and the lights are a bit dim in the corners, but it feels like home to us. We talk to the other shopkeepers nearby and share tea when it’s quiet in the afternoons. It is a steady way to live, just waiting on the next customer to walk through the door and see what we have on display. It’s a lot of standing around and folding things back up, but we like the rhythm of it.