Karthik General Store

Karthik General Store has been a part of the Attapur neighborhood for a long time. We are at 4-7-154/7D/6, tucked away where the locals usually walk by on their way home. My day starts early, usually around six or seven, to get the shutters up and receive the milk and bread deliveries. It’s a small shop, so every inch of the shelves is packed with something. We have pulses, soaps, snacks, and all the little things people forget to buy at the big supermarkets. I know most of the people who come in by their first names and we usually chat about the weather or the traffic while I'm bagging their items. My son helps out in the evenings when it gets really crowded with people coming back from work. Sometimes the stock doesn't arrive on time and I have to explain why we’re out of a certain brand of oil, but customers are generally patient. It’s a simple life running a store like this. There’s always cleaning to do or bottles to straighten. We don't have fancy scanners, just a notebook where I track some of the credit for the regulars. It stays quite busy until we close up late at night. Attapur has changed a lot, but this shop stays pretty much the same every year. We are just here for the daily needs.