Shivani General Store

Running this store on 80 Ft Road in Kanpur keeps us pretty busy. The address is 111 A/410, Ashok Nagar, and being near the Gumti Crossing means there is always someone passing by. I’ve lived in Kanpur my whole life and this shop is my second home. We stock a bit of everything, from notebooks for the school kids to washing powder for the homes nearby. The shelves are quite high, so I have to use a small wooden stool to reach the top items. It gets very hot here in the afternoons, so I usually keep the front door half-shut to keep the sun out. We don’t have those big air conditioners, just a couple of wall fans that work hard. People come in and chat about the local news while they wait for me to weigh out their items. I try to keep things organized but sometimes the boxes pile up in the corner when a new shipment arrives. The floor is made of grey cement and it's seen a lot of foot traffic over the years. I know the habits of the neighbors, like who likes which brand of tea. It’s just a normal general store where we try to have what people ask for. There isn't anything fancy about the way we work. We just open up, serve the people, and go home when the sun goes down.