R. L. Kanhayalal

R. L. Kanhayalal is located right on the ground floor at 53 Ezra Street. It’s a hectic area, as anyone who has been to this part of Kolkata knows. There's always a lot of loading and unloading happening right outside our front door with carts and vans everywhere. We’ve been here for quite some time, tucked away among all the other shops in this lane. The walls are a bit dusty and the ceiling is quite high, which is typical for these older buildings. We don't have a big fancy showroom with glass cases. It's more of a practical space where we keep our stuff and talk to whoever walks in from the street. Sometimes it gets a bit loud with the traffic and the shouting of the street vendors outside, but you eventually get used to it. We keep track of everything in our old ledger books mostly, though there's a computer on the desk that we use when we absolutely have to. It’s a family-run kind of thing, so we don't worry about corporate rules or wearing fancy uniforms. We just wear what's comfortable for the humid weather. Most of our neighbors have been here as long as we have. We share tea from the local stall sometimes and talk about how the market is moving. It’s a straightforward way to live and work. Nothing too complicated for us. We open up in the morning, do our work, and head home when the sun goes down.