Manikanta Kirana

Manikanta Kirana is tucked away in Veshpuri Colony, over in the Medpalli-Peerzadiguda area of Hyderabad. The address is D.No-17/3. Living and working in this part of the city means dealing with a lot of growth lately. There are more houses now than when we first started. Every morning starts with the same routine of moving the heavy stuff to the front so people can see what we have. We’ve got bags of onions and potatoes sitting on the floor most days. The shelves are packed with everything from packets of Maggi to different kinds of hair oil. It’s a local colony shop, so we know most people by their faces even if we don't always remember their names. Sometimes we run out of things because the delivery truck got stuck in Hyderabad traffic, and we just have to tell people to come back tomorrow. It’s not a supermarket where everything is perfectly lined up. Things get moved around, and sometimes you have to ask where the matchboxes are hidden. We keep a ledger for a few of the neighbors who pay at the end of the month. It’s a lot of writing and checking. The fan hums all day but it doesn't do much when it’s forty degrees outside in May. We just keep the water pot filled and keep going. That’s just the way it is at Manikanta Kirana. It's a simple life behind the counter.