Rajalakshmi Sweet Stall

Our little shop, Rajalakshmi Sweet Stall, is over at number 48 on KengalHanumanthaiah Road. It’s in the 1st Stage, 5th Phase area of Maha Ganapathi Nagar. It is a bit of a mouthful to say the whole address, but local people just know where we are. We have been frying things and making sweets in this same spot for a long time. The kitchen is in the back, and the smell of ghee and sugar usually drifts out onto the sidewalk. It’s a small stall, really. We don't have space for chairs or tables, so people just stand at the counter or take their bags to go. During festival times, it gets very crowded and we all have to work extra hours. My hands are usually covered in flour or syrup by noon. We don't use any big machines, just the same pots and pans we've always had. The glass display cases are old and they get foggy when it rains. We try to keep everything looking decent, but we are more worried about how things taste. It’s a busy neighborhood with a lot of houses nearby. We see the same faces every week. It feels good to be a part of the daily life around here without making a big deal of it. Some days the traffic outside is loud, but inside we just keep on with the batches of laddu and barfi.