Keerti Spices

I've been coming to Shop No. 32 in Jeera Mandi for a long time now. It’s a busy place, especially in the mornings when everyone is setting up. Keerti Spices is right in the thick of it. You can smell the cumin and other stuff from the street before you even get inside. The shop isn't huge, but it holds everything we need. Some days the traffic in the mandi is just a mess, making it hard for trucks to get through, but we manage. My hands usually smell like black pepper or turmeric by lunch. It’s just the way it is here. Most of the people around us are doing the same thing, selling and weighing bags. We keep the floor swept, though the dust always comes back. It's a loud area with all the shouting and the carts rattling on the pavement. I usually grab a tea from the guy at the corner while we wait for the next load to arrive. Sometimes the light in the back of the shop flickers, but we haven't got around to fixing it yet. We just focus on getting the orders right and making sure the bags are tied tight. It’s honest work, and being here in the mandi feels right. We know most of the faces that walk by. Every season brings something different, but Shop No. 32 stays pretty much the same.