Chintamani Sarees

If you walk down Haweliwali Street, right opposite the Mahalaxmi Temple in Vora Bazar, you’ll see Chintamani Sarees. We’ve been here for years, and the sound of the temple bells is basically our background music all day long. The shop is filled with stacks of sarees, mostly on wooden shelves that go all the way to the ceiling. We have to use a ladder to reach the ones at the top. It’s a bit of a tight squeeze when we have more than a few people inside at once. We spend a lot of time folding fabric because once someone looks at a saree, it never goes back into the pile quite the same way. We don’t have a fancy lighting setup, just some basic tubes that show the colors well enough. The street outside is always busy with people going to the temple or the market nearby. We get a lot of dust from the road, so we are constantly dusting the counters. We aren't interested in being some big chain; we just like our spot here in Vora Bazar. We know the other shopkeepers on Haweliwali Street, and we often send out for tea from the stall around the corner. It’s a simple life, looking after the stock and talking to whoever comes through the door. We just stay open until the temple crowds thin out and it’s time to lock the doors.