L. Gopal & Sons

Our place, L. Gopal & Sons, is tucked away on the first floor at 29A, Sir Hari Ram Goenka Street. If you know the area, you know how crowded it gets with all the carts and people moving about. The stairs up to the office are a bit narrow, and you have to watch your step if you're carrying anything heavy. It’s an old building, so it has that specific smell of paper and stone that you only find in these parts of town. We’ve got a couple of desks pushed together and some old wooden cupboards that have seen better days. Usually, there’s a stack of ledgers or some samples lying around because there never seems to be enough shelf space. The windows look out over the street, so we hear all the shouting and honking from below all day long. It can be a bit distracting when you’re trying to count things or write out an order, but you get used to it after a week or two. We drink a lot of tea here, mostly from the guy who has a stall just a few doors down. It’s not a fancy office with air conditioning that actually works all the time, but it’s where we do our business. Most people who come to see us have been doing so for years, so they know exactly where to find the bell. It takes a while to get through the paperwork, but we just take it one day at a time, making sure everything is noted down correctly.