Babu Ram Jagdish Rai

If you walk through Kirana Bazar, you’ll find us easily enough. Babu Ram Jagdish Rai has been a name around this market for a long time, passed down through the family. The air here always smells like spices and heavy bags of grain. We spend our mornings hauling sacks and weighing out orders for the regulars who’ve been coming to us for years. It’s a loud place, with everyone shouting prices and trucks trying to squeeze through the narrow lanes. Our shop is packed floor to ceiling with everything from pulses to oils. There isn't much room to move around once the morning rush starts. We don't have a website or a fancy catalog; people just come in and tell us what they need for their kitchens. Sometimes we get a bit behind when a big delivery arrives, and we’re all covered in flour or dust from the bags. It’s hard work on the back, but it’s what we know. My grandfather used to sit in the same spot where I sit now, tracking everything in a thick ledger book. We still use those books because they just work. We don't really go for all the modern bells and whistles. We just want to make sure the bags are full and the weights are right. It’s just a normal shop in a busy bazaar, trying to get through the day like everyone else.