Dhanraj Dairy

Gali No 3 is where we stay. Every morning is the same for us. It starts very early. Usually when it is still dark outside and most people are sleeping. The milk arrives from the farms and then the real work begins. We have the big steel cans. They are heavy to move. My back feels it some days. But people need their milk for their morning tea. You can’t be late with the delivery. If the milk is late, the whole neighborhood gets upset. We also keep dahi and fresh paneer. It’s all kept cold in the back. Ghaziabad gets very dusty in the afternoons, so we are always cleaning the counters. You have to keep a dairy clean or it doesn't work. My wife helps with the accounts in the evening. I’m not very good with the numbers. I just know how much milk went to which house on the street. We’ve lived in this lane for a long time. Our neighbors are our customers. It’s a nice feeling to know everyone. You see the kids grow up. One day they are buying a small packet of milk, the next they are grown men with their own families. We don't have a big sign or anything. People know the smell of the place and where we are. It’s a practical business. No holidays really. Cows don’t take days off, so neither do we. It’s a lot of lifting.