Universal Auto Centre

If you know anything about Karol Bagh, you probably know how crowded and loud Naiwala gets on a Tuesday morning. Our shop, Universal Auto Centre, is situated at 1381/22. It’s a pretty narrow street and there’s always someone hauling a crate of heavy parts or a stray dog wandering past the door. We spend most of our days dealing with engine grease and trying to find parts for old bikes and cars. It’s what we know how to do. My hands are rarely clean even after I scrub them for lunch. We stock a huge variety of different components, mostly for those older models that people are still driving around this part of Delhi. The shelves are packed right up to the ceiling because space is always tight in Karol Bagh. Sometimes it takes us a few minutes to find exactly what a customer is looking for because things get moved around, but we usually have it buried somewhere in the back. We don't have a fancy showroom with lights and air conditioning. It's just a counter, some old stools, and piles of cardboard boxes everywhere. The tea guy comes by twice a day and that’s about the only time we take a real break. Dealing with the crazy traffic in Naiwala is honestly the hardest part of the whole job. You can't even park a scooter properly some days without someone yelling. We've been in this spot for a long time and the regulars know our faces.