Samarkand

Running Samarkand on Infantry Road is a busy job. Being right here near Andheri East means there is never a quiet moment. We opened this place because we wanted to have a spot where we could just work for ourselves. The building isn't anything special to look at from the outside, but we keep the inside clean and ready for guests. Every morning, we check the supplies and see what needs to be picked up from the market. It’s a lot of back-and-forth travel in the heat. We have a few heavy wooden tables that took four of us to move into place. They’re solid, though. The kitchen gets really hot during the rush, and we all end up sweating through our shirts. We don't have a big fancy menu with pictures. It's just a simple list of what we can make that day. Most of our customers are people working in the nearby offices who just want a quick bite before they head back to their desks. We don’t do much advertising; people just see the sign when they’re stuck in traffic and decide to stop by. Sometimes the power goes out, and we have to use candles until it comes back on. It’s just how things go around here. We work hard, we feed whoever comes in, and we try to make sure nobody leaves hungry. It’s a simple life, and we are okay with that. The street noise never really stops, but we don't notice it much anymore.