Ram Lal

Our shop is located in Hapur at the Koti Gate area in Ahota 208. It is a simple place in a part of town that has been around forever. The building is old and the entrance is just a standard metal door that we roll up every morning. We don't have fancy displays or bright lights inside. Instead, we have wooden shelves and a heavy desk where most of the business happens. The floor is made of cement and shows the wear and tear of many years of people walking in and out. During the summer, it gets quite hot so we have a couple of pedestal fans that we move around to stay cool. There is a small window in the back that looks out onto a courtyard where a neighbor has a mango tree. We know most of the people who walk past our door by their first names. Life here moves at a bit of a slower pace compared to the big cities. We start our day when the market wakes up and we finish when the streetlights come on. There is always a jar of water on the table for anyone who is thirsty. We don't have a computer system or anything like that, just some notebooks and a pen for keeping track of things. It is just a basic, honest way to spend the day. Sometimes the street dogs sleep right in front of our step in the shade.