Sri Rajarajeshwari Rice Traders

We’ve been here at the 477/444 spot on the 60 Feet Road for quite some time now. In Banashankari 3rd Stage, things change fast but our rice shop stays mostly the same. Every morning starts with pulling up the heavy shutters. You can hear the sound echo down the street before the traffic gets too loud. Different kinds of rice stay in big gunny bags near the entrance. Some people come for just a few kilos and others want the whole twenty-five kilo sack for their family. It gets a bit dusty with all the grain moving around. The floor needs a lot of sweeping throughout the day. A lot of time is spent just talking to the regulars who live nearby. Sometimes the delivery trucks arrive late because of the traffic on the main road and we have to wait around. No fancy displays exist here. It’s just bags of rice and a weighing scale that we keep calibrated. There’s a small desk where we keep the accounts in a notebook. It’s a simple way of working. Most of our day involves helping people figure out which variety is better for idli or for regular lunch. The light inside the shop isn't the brightest but we know where everything is kept. If you walk past the building, you’ll usually see a couple of us sitting on the steps or hauling a bag to someone's scooter. That’s just how it is here.