Annpurna Mishtan Bhandar

Annpurna Mishtan Bhandar has been here in the Bhilwara Textile Market for quite a while now. We open the shutters early in the morning when the R K Colony area is still waking up. Usually, the first thing we do is check the milk delivery because if that’s late, everything else gets delayed. It’s a bit of a squeeze inside the shop, especially when we’re making large batches of sweets for a festival or something. My hands are usually covered in flour or sugar by ten o’clock. People from the offices nearby stop in for a quick bite or to take a box home. We don’t have fancy air conditioning or anything like that, just a couple of old fans that rattle. The heat from the big stoves makes it pretty warm in the back, but you get used to it after a few years. Sometimes the traffic in the market gets so loud you can’t hear what the customer is asking for. We just keep the trays full and try to keep the place tidy, though the floor always seems to need another sweep. It’s just us doing what we know how to do. There isn’t much to say about it other than we’re here every day, except for some holidays. We know most of the people who walk by by their first names now. It’s just a regular life running a shop in this part of town. I hope the weather stays cool today.