Nikhil General Store

This shop is located in New Karhera Colony, right in the Mohan Nagar area of Ghaziabad. Being near the Hindon Air Force base means we hear the planes overhead quite often during the day. The shop itself is nothing special to look at, just a basic storefront with a lot of stuff squeezed into a small area. We have stacks of plastic buckets near the back and rows of glass jars filled with different kinds of toffees on the front counter. The floor is made of old grey stone that stays cool even when the Ghaziabad heat is bad outside. We spend most of the day reaching for things on high shelves using a long stick with a hook at the end. It's a lot of repetitive work, like checking the stock of cooking oil or stacking soap bars. We don't really do much advertising; people just know we are here because of the location. There is a small stool behind the counter where we sit when the street gets quiet in the mid-afternoon. The fridge for cold drinks makes a constant low buzzing sound that you stop noticing after an hour. Sometimes the neighbors come in just to ask for change or to check the time. We keep a ledger for the regular families who pay at the end of the month. It's a simple way of doing things that hasn't changed much over the years. We just keep the shelves full.