Moolchand & Sons Kirana Merchant

Moolchand & Sons Kirana Merchant is right here at Chopla Mandir near Delhi Gate. It's been in Ghaziabad for a long time, across from Seeta Ram Jewellers. We open early every morning. Usually, the first thing I do is sweep the front and check what sacks of pulses or rice came in late last night. My grandfather started this place and now I handle the daily sales while my cousin helps with the heavy lifting. It gets quite crowded around the temple during the festivals, and we have to keep everything organized so people can grab their sugar or oil quickly. The shelves are mostly full of the usual kitchen stuff. Sometimes the tea packets fall over or a jar gets dusty, but that’s just how it is in a busy shop. We know most of the people around here by name. They come in for a small pack of salt or just to see what's new. It’s not fancy. The floor is old and we use the same wooden counter we've had for decades. Sometimes the electricity goes out and we have to use the handheld fans. It’s just us doing the work every day. We make sure the stock doesn't run out. It's a lot of manual counting and writing things down in a ledger. We don't have fancy computers. We just keep the shop running like it always has been. It is hard work but we are used to the noise and the crowd around the mandir.