Garg Kirana Stores

You can find us at shop number 13 in the Vijay Market over in Barkheda. Being in the BHEL area means we get a lot of the same families coming in every week for their groceries. We keep the shelves packed with everything from lentils and spices to soap and tea leaves. It’s a small space, so it gets a bit cramped when more than three or four people are inside at once. We spend our mornings opening boxes and refilling the jars. The market is always a noisy place with people talking and scooters zooming by outside. We don’t have a computer system or anything, just a big notebook where we write down what people owe or what we need to buy from the big market. Sometimes we run out of something popular and have to tell the regulars to come back tomorrow. It’s a bit disorganized at times, with bags of flour sitting on the floor, but we know exactly where everything is. My son helps out after school, mostly by weighing out the sugar and dal for the customers. We’ve been in Barkheda for years, and we know most of the people who walk through the door by their first names. It’s not a big supermarket, just a regular corner store where you can get what you need for dinner. The fan overhead clicks a lot, but it keeps the air moving during the hot afternoons when the sun hits the front of the shop.