Vaibhav General Store.

Vaibhav General Store. is located at 6, Rajiv Nagar Road here in Kanpur. We are pretty close to the Old Police Chowki, which everyone in this part of town knows. I’ve been running the shop from this same spot for a long time. It’s a simple place with shelves lining the walls from floor to ceiling. I try to keep a bit of everything, from washing powder to bags of rice. The road outside can get a bit dusty and loud with the tempos going by, but that’s just life in Kanpur. My day starts around seven in the morning when I open the locks and pull up the heavy metal shutter. I spend time checking what sold out yesterday and making a list for the wholesaler. Most of my customers are people who live right here in Rajiv Nagar. They come in for a kilo of sugar or some oil and stay for a few minutes to talk about the weather or the local news. I don't have any staff, so I do everything myself—the cleaning, the stocking, and the selling. Sometimes the shop feels a bit cluttered because I try to cram in as much variety as possible. It’s not the most modern looking place, and the paint is peeling a bit near the ceiling, but it works for us. I stay open until late evening, usually closing up after the last few people have finished their grocery shopping for the next day's breakfast.