Indian Auto Paints

Down here in Bhadohi, things move at a certain pace. Our shop, Indian Auto Paints, is tucked away near Hotel Residency. Most people know the spot because of the hotel, it's a big landmark for the village. We spend a lot of time around paint cans and mixing sticks. The smell of the shop is something you get used to after a few years, though visitors always notice it right away. My father started working with colors long ago, and we just kept it going in this part of Ravidas Nagar. It's not a shiny showroom. We have shelves that are a bit crooked and the floor usually has a few drops of spilled paint on it. That is just how a paint shop looks when people are actually working. During the monsoon, the road outside gets a bit muddy, so we spend half the day cleaning boots. We get customers from all over the Taluka coming in. Some want to fix a scratch on a bike, others are doing a whole car. We don't use a computer for everything, mostly just notebooks and pens for keeping track of what we have. It feels more real that way. If you pass Hotel Residency, you're basically there. It is a quiet village life mostly, except when the mixing machine is running loud. We just do the work and go home. There is no need for anything more complicated than that.