Handicrafts Paradise

You can find us in the Tiwari Building on M.I. Road. We are directly across from Natraj Restaurant, which is lucky because we go there for lunch quite a bit. M.I. Road is always loud and full of cars, so there is never a dull moment looking out the window. We’ve got all sorts of handicrafts crammed into our space. It’s probably a bit too much stuff for the size of the room, but we like having variety. People come in looking for gifts or things for their homes. We spend a lot of time unwrapping new arrivals and finding a spot for them on the shelves. It’s a lot of manual work, lifting heavy crates and dealing with a lot of bubble wrap. My brother and I run the place mostly, with some help during the busy months. We don't really follow a strict schedule; we open when we get here and leave when the work is done. Sometimes a customer stays late and we end up chatting for an hour. It’s a very informal way of doing things but it’s how we’ve always operated. We don’t have a website that works right half the time, so most people just find us by walking past the restaurant and seeing our sign. The building is old and has its quirks, like the lights flickering occasionally, but it feels like home to us now. We just take it day by day and try to keep the shelves from getting too dusty.