Sunshine

Our shop is number 946/1-18 in Chawri Bazar. If you have ever been to Chawri Bazar, you know how tight the lanes are. You can barely move when the rickshaws and the laborers are all trying to pass at once. Our shop is tucked into one of these spots. It is a small space, packed from floor to ceiling. We know exactly where everything is, even if it looks like a mess to someone else. Most of the day is spent talking to people who stop by. Some are regulars who have been coming for years, and others are just lost in the market. We sit on the small stools and wait for the heat to pass. The overhead fan wobbles a bit, but it keeps the air moving. There is a lot of history in these walls. You can see the layers of old paint if you look closely. We don't use computers much; most of our stuff is written down in registers. It works for us. The sounds of the market are part of our life—the shouting, the bells, the heavy carts rolling on the stones. We open early before the crowd gets too thick and we stay until the shutters come down all along the row. It’s a simple life in a very old part of the city. We just keep the shop running.