Om Hari Bhandar & Variety Stores

The shop is called Om Hari Bhandar & Variety Stores and you can find us right on the Main Road in Howrah, specifically in the Hogalshi, Deoly area. It’s a busy spot because of the road, so there is always dust coming in and we have to wipe down the counters quite a lot. We try to keep a bit of everything since we are a variety store, so you’ll see plastic buckets hanging next to packets of chips or maybe some stationery for the school kids. My days are mostly spent sitting on the wooden stool behind the counter, waiting for the afternoon rush when people are coming back from the city. Howrah is always crowded and our little corner is no different. Sometimes I forget where I tucked away a specific item because we have so many small things crammed onto the shelves. Dealing with the distributors can be a bit of a headache when they don't bring exactly what I ordered, but we make do with what we have. It’s a simple life, opening the shutters in the morning and closing them once the street lights have been on for a while. We don’t have any fancy displays or anything like that, just rows of jars and boxes that people need for their houses. The pin code here is 711301 and if you are walking down the main road, you can't really miss the front of the store with all the items spilling out a bit.