Siddhartha Plastic

Being in Begum Bazar means you’re always in the middle of a crowd. Our shop, Siddhartha Plastic, is at 15-8-390/5, and it’s a tight squeeze like most places in this part of the city. We’ve got stacks of items reaching up to the ceiling. It’s a bit of a maze inside, but we know where everything is kept. Most of our day is spent dealing with people coming in and out or coordinating how to get goods through the narrow lanes. You have to be patient to work here because the traffic is constant and the noise never really stops. We don’t have a fancy office; it’s just a small desk in the corner where we keep the ledger. It’s a very old-school way of doing things, but it works for us. We’ve known the other shopkeepers on this block for years, so we often help each other out when someone needs a hand moving something heavy. It’s a tough place to work during the summer, but we’ve got a couple of good ceiling fans. We don't do much marketing or anything; people just know we're here. We open up in the morning, sweep the front, and get to work. That’s been the routine for as long as I can remember. It’s just a simple life in the bazar. We stay until the sun goes down and then head home to start over tomorrow.