Shanker Dass Aggarwal

We’ve been here at Shop 3381/5 in Kucha Kashgari for quite some time now. It’s a busy spot in Bazar Sita Ram, and every morning starts the same way with the shutters going up. The street is narrow, so things can get a bit crowded when deliveries come in. We keep a lot of items packed on the shelves, reaching all the way to the ceiling. Sometimes it’s hard to find exactly where everything is at first glance, but we know the layout. There’s a ceiling fan that hums throughout the day, and we usually have some tea around noon. People from the neighborhood stop by, sometimes just to ask for directions or to see what’s new in stock. The floor is old stone and it’s seen a lot of foot traffic over the years. We don’t have fancy lights or big signs, just the name Shanker Dass Aggarwal painted over the door. It gets hot in the summer months, but that’s just how it is in this part of town. Most of the day is spent checking ledgers or talking to the guys who bring the goods. It’s a simple routine. We’ve known the other shopkeepers around here for years, so it feels like a small community inside the bigger city. Nothing too complicated goes on, we just open up, do the work that needs doing, and close when the sun starts to set and the market finally slows down.