Dipjyoti Bastralay

If you're walking through Rangapani Bazar, you'll probably see Dipjyoti Bastralay. We've been in this part of Darjeeling for some time. It’s a small shop, mostly filled with clothes and fabric piled up on the shelves. It gets a bit crowded during the market days, but that's normal for Rangapani. We open up early and stay until the sun goes down. Most of our customers are locals from around Bagdogra who just need something for their house or for a wedding. We don't have fancy displays or air conditioning here. It’s just us, some chairs for people to sit on while they look at fabrics, and a lot of talk. Sometimes we drink tea with the neighbors while waiting for the next person to come in. The shop isn't modern, but it does the job. We try to keep a good variety of things so people don't have to travel too far. Working in a bazar means it’s always loud outside, with trucks and people shouting. We are used to it by now. We don't really do online stuff or big ads. People just know we're here by the post office. It's a simple business. We keep track of everything in big paper notebooks. It’s how we’ve always done it. There’s no big secret to how we run things, just staying open and talking to people who walk in. The air smells like rain and tea most of the year, which is nice.