Nihar Stores

Barabazar is a place you have to see to believe, and we are right in the thick of it on Old China Bazar Street. It is one of those narrow lanes where you can barely squeeze a handcart through if two people are walking the other way. Our shop, 119/3, is an old building with high ceilings and walls that have seen better days. We have got boxes stacked up to the rafters, and half the time we need a ladder just to see what is at the top. It is crowded and hot, especially when the Brabourne Road traffic is at a standstill outside. We have been here long enough that we don't mind the chaos, but it can be a lot for someone not used to the market. We spend our mornings checking the lists and moving stock around so people can actually walk into the shop. There isn't any air conditioning, just a few old ceiling fans that spin as fast as they can. We drink a lot of tea and talk to the other shopkeepers while we wait for deliveries. It is a wholesale environment, so everything is about moving volume and keeping track of the inventory. We don't have a website or anything like that; we just open the shutters and start the day. Sometimes the power goes out, and we just keep working by the light from the street. It is just how things are done here in the market.