Shri Bala Ji Kirana Store

Shri Bala Ji Kirana Store is located right in the middle of the bustle at Ghanta Ghar in Ghaziabad. We are directly in front of the Allahabad Bank, which means there are always people hanging around waiting for their bank work to be finished. They often pop in to get a few things while they wait. The shop is filled with heavy sacks of flour, pulses, and sugar. It’s a bit of a workout moving those bags around every morning when we open up. The air inside smells like a mix of spices and jute bags. It’s a 201001 pincode area and it feels like the heart of the market. We don't have any fancy displays. We just stack the boxes where they fit. Sometimes the piles get a little high, and you have to be careful not to knock anything over. The floor is concrete and a bit worn down from all the feet walking over it. We deal with many different people, from housewives doing their weekly shopping to shopkeepers from smaller stalls nearby. It’s constant movement. I usually have a cup of tea sitting on the counter, getting cold because someone asked for five kilos of rice right when I took a sip. That’s just the way it is here. We stay open until the market starts to quiet down, which isn't until very late in the evening.