Joshi General Store

You can find us at 87, Chinnagurvalur Main Road. Chinnagurvalur is a quiet place for the most part. The shop is right on the main stretch so we see everyone passing by on their way to the fields or the other side of the town. It’s a general store, so we have a bit of everything for the house. We keep the basics like flour, oil, salt, and matches. The shelves are made of dark wood and they are quite old now. My father had them put in many years ago. We don’t have any fancy glass displays or bright lights. Everything is just sitting there on the shelf where you can see it. In the afternoon, it gets very quiet and we sit by the front door to catch a little breeze. The road outside isn't always paved perfectly, so it gets a bit muddy when the heavy rains come. We have to wipe the floor several times a day then. People from the village come in to talk more than to shop sometimes. We know whose daughter is getting married and who has been sick lately. It’s that kind of friendly place. We don’t use a computer for our accounts; we still have a big ledger book with a red cloth cover. It’s a slow pace of life here. We open early and close when the sun goes down and the streetlights come on. It’s just a simple life running a store for the people here in Chinnagurvalur.