Deepak Kumar Chicken Corner

This is a small spot in the Sector 28 D Rehri Market in Chandigarh. If you aren’t looking for it, you might just walk right past. It’s part of a long row of stalls where everyone is selling something different. We focus on chicken dishes, and most of the cooking happens right in front of the customers. The smoke from the grill goes up into the air, and in the evenings, it’s quite a sight. It’s not a place with air conditioning or soft chairs. You sit on plastic stools or just eat while standing up. The ground is paved but can get a bit messy when it’s busy. I’ve been running this corner for a while now, and I know most of the other shopkeepers in the market. We talk while waiting for customers to show up. The lights are bright and a bit harsh, and there’s always music playing from someone’s phone nearby. It’s a very basic way of doing business, but it’s honest. We buy our poultry fresh every morning from the local mandi. Sometimes we run out of certain items before the night is over, and that’s just how it goes. It’s a small life, but we stay busy and the market keeps us going. I spend a lot of time cleaning the charcoal and getting the skewers ready. My hands usually smell like spices by the end of the day, but that is part of the work.