Gupta Departmental

Gupta Departmental is tucked away in the Hari Om Market area of Kanpur. If you know Kanpur, you know how crowded the markets can get, and Hari Om Market is no different. We call it a departmental store, but it’s really just a place where you can find almost anything for the house. We have rows of pulses, spices, soaps, and even some plastic buckets and mops hanging from the ceiling hooks. It’s a bit of a maze inside, but we know exactly where every single item is kept. The noise from the street is constant, with horns and people shouting, but we’ve gotten used to it over the years. We start our day by cleaning the front area and making sure the most popular items are within easy reach. My sons help me out with the heavy lifting and the deliveries when things get busy. We don't really have a website or any digital stuff; we just rely on the people who walk past our shop every day. Sometimes we get into long arguments with suppliers about the quality of the grains, but that’s just part of the job. We try to keep our prices fair because we know most of our customers are working hard to make ends meet. It isn't a glamorous life, and the shop can get very dusty, but it’s our way of being part of the Kanpur bustle. We just keep our heads down and serve the next person.