Abdul Hakeem Kiryana Store

We have been running this shop at H-287 in Shaheed Nagar for a while now. It’s just a simple kiryana store where we keep the things people in Ghaziabad need every day. You will find bags of flour stacked in the corner and jars of spices on the wooden shelves. The floor gets a bit dusty because the street outside is always busy with rickshaws and people walking by. I usually get here early to open the shutters before the sun gets too high. My hands stay busy weighing out sugar or pulses into small plastic bags. We don’t have any big signs or bright lights. It is just the name Abdul Hakeem Kiryana Store painted on the front. Sometimes the delivery trucks are late and we have to tell the neighbors to come back later for their favorite brand of tea. We know most of the families around here by name. It’s a small life but it keeps us going. On hot afternoons, the ceiling fan hums along and I sit near the counter waiting for the school kids to come buy a biscuit or two. There is no computer here, just a notebook where I write things down sometimes. We don't try to be anything we aren't. We just keep the shop open and make sure there is enough salt and oil for everyone who stops by on their way home from work. It gets a bit chaotic on the weekends, but we just take one customer at a time and do our best to get them what they need.