Sri Meenakshi Stores

You can find Sri Meenakshi Stores at 25A, Gandhi Nagar in Adyar. It’s a small shop, the kind where you know exactly where everything is after visiting once. We sell all the basics, from pulses and rice to soaps and little snacks for the kids. My grandfather actually started the business and we’ve just kept it going the same way. The wooden shelves are a bit old now, and sometimes they creak when we put heavy bags on them. In the mornings, the milk delivery comes early, so one of us has to be here by 6 am to take the crates. Adyar is a nice place to have a store because the neighbors are friendly and they stop by to chat as much as they do to shop. We don't have those fancy scanners or anything; we just write things down in a book and use a small calculator. Sometimes we run out of things like sugar or tea leaves, and I have to go pick them up myself on the scooter. The shop can get a bit cramped when three or four people are inside at once, especially if they have bags with them. But we like the bustle. It’s just a neighborhood store trying to keep the pantry shelves full for the local families around Gandhi Nagar. We stay open late most nights just in case someone forgot something for dinner.