Gupta Metal Mart

Gupta Metal Mart sits over on Asaf Ali Road, at 1/5 B. It’s a busy street and we’ve been part of it for a long time. The shop is filled with various metal goods, from small fittings to longer rods that we have to lean against the back wall. We don’t really go in for fancy displays or bright lights. Most of the time, the shelves are just packed with whatever came in last week. People stop by all the time asking for this or that, and we usually know exactly which pile to look in. Sometimes the dust from the road gets into everything, so we have to wipe down the counters every couple of hours. It’s not a glamorous job, but it keeps us busy from Monday to Saturday. We have a few guys who help with the loading, and they know the stock as well as I do. We try to keep things organized but when you have so much metal in one small space, it gets tricky. The fans in the ceiling hum all day and we drink a lot of tea while we wait for the next customer to walk through the door. We aren't trying to be the biggest shop in Delhi, just a reliable one where people can find what they need for their own projects. It is a straightforward way to make a living and we’re used to the noise and the pace of it all.