Gaurav Textiles

Being in Chandni Chowk means you never really get a moment of true silence. Our shop, number 828 in Katra Neer, is tucked away in those narrow lanes where the air always smells a bit like old fabric and street food. Gaurav Textiles has been operating out of this small space for a while now, and we’ve gotten used to the way the walls seem to close in when we have too much stock. There are rolls of cloth everywhere you look, stacked up toward the ceiling. Sometimes it feels like a bit of a maze just trying to get from the front counter to the back where we keep the records. We don’t have fancy displays or bright neon lights. Most of our day is spent unfolding material for people to see and then folding it back up again once they leave. The wooden stools we sit on are old and they creak every time you move. We know the other shopkeepers around Katra Neer pretty well, and we often share a pot of tea while waiting for the morning crowd to arrive. It’s hard work and your back usually aches by the time four o’clock rolls around. But this is the life in the market, and we just keep at it day after day because it’s what we know. It’s crowded and messy, but it’s our corner of the world.