Chotmal Shyamlal Arora Kirana Store

Our shop has a long name, Chotmal Shyamlal Arora Kirana Store, because it was named after my grandfather and father. We are situated on the Hathiramoda Paota Main Road in Jodhpur, just inside the Merti Gate. It is an old part of the city with a lot of history. We deal mostly in bulk kirana items like grains and spices. The building is quite old and has high ceilings which helps a bit with the Jodhpur heat. I grew up playing in this shop and now I am the one running it. We have big open bags of lentils and rice where people can see the quality before they buy. It gets quite dusty because of the wind and the main road nearby, so we are constantly cleaning the wooden counters. I have a couple of boys who help me weigh the goods and carry them to the customers' vehicles. We don't do any fancy marketing; people just know we are here inside the gate. Some customers have been coming to us for three generations. I keep the old ledgers because I like the way they look, even if we use a more modern way of keeping track now. It is a traditional place and we don't plan on changing much, as long as people still need their daily grains and spices from a familiar face.