Tara Chand Ram Avtar

Tara Chand Ram Avtar is our family shop located at Lajpat Rai Chowk. We are right in the middle of the Main Bazaar, which is always crowded and noisy, especially on weekends. It's near Charkhi Dadri, so we get people coming in from the nearby villages too. The shop has been in the same spot for a long time. The wooden shelves are old and they creak a bit when we put heavy bags on them. We sell basic things that people need for their kitchens and homes. It’s mostly just me and my cousin working here. In the morning, we start by sweeping the front step because the bazaar gets so much trash blowing around. We drink tea from the stall across the street while we wait for the first customers. It’s not a fancy place with bright lights or anything. We have a few fans that hum all day to keep the air moving, but it still gets stuffy when five or six people are standing inside at once. We know most of our regulars by their first names or their father’s names. Sometimes they stay and talk for twenty minutes about the weather or the crop prices before they even buy anything. That’s just how things work in this part of town. We don't have a computer system, so everything is written down in the big ledger book with the red cover. It’s simple work but it keeps us busy from morning until late evening. We like it here.