Sri Balaji Hardware

Shop No.78 in Alankar Complex is where we keep all the stock for Sri Balaji Hardware. If you walk in, you’ll see shelves piled high with boxes of screws, hinges, and all sorts of metal bits. It’s a small space, so we have to use every inch of the walls. Sometimes it takes a minute to find exactly what a person is looking for because there is so much stuff packed in here. We’ve been in Alankar Complex for a good number of years now. Most of the other shop owners are our friends. We open up early and usually stay until the last customer leaves. It’s dusty work, and our hands are usually a bit dirty by the end of the day from handling the iron and steel. We don't have a computer system that tracks everything perfectly, so we rely a lot on knowing where we put things. People come in asking for a specific bolt or a certain type of pipe fitting, and we just know which bin to look in. It’s a simple way of doing things, but it works for us. We keep a ledger on the counter for the regular accounts. There’s a ceiling fan that squeaks a bit, but it keeps the air moving while we’re helping people. It’s just a regular hardware store where you can get what you need for a repair and move on. We spend our lunch breaks sitting on the stools out front, watching the crowd in the complex.