Thirumala General Store

Thirumala General Store is located at 77-4-25, Challur Road in Kesavapatnam. It is a small, straightforward shop that sits right on the edge of the road. We have a counter at the front where we spend most of our time sitting and waiting for customers. Behind the counter, there are rows of small plastic jars filled with candies, whistles, and small toys for the kids who walk by. The rest of the walls are lined with wooden planks that hold things like matches, soap, cigarettes, and small packets of biscuits. We don't have a lot of space, so everything is packed in pretty tight. The Challur Road can get quite dusty, so we are always dusting off the packets with a cloth. In the afternoons, when it gets really hot, we usually pull the shade down halfway to keep the sun off the goods. There is an old radio that we keep playing at a low volume just to have some background noise. We know most of the people who come in by their names because they live right here in Kesavapatnam. We don't sell anything fancy, just the basic stuff that someone might realize they ran out of in the middle of cooking. It’s a quiet life, mostly just counting change and restocking the jars as they get empty.