Rainbow Variety Store

Our shop, Rainbow Variety Store, is on the ground floor along Hanapara Road in the Krishnapur area of Kolkata. We are located right opposite Geeta Sree, which is a place most people around here know. It’s a typical neighborhood store where we keep a little bit of everything. From toys for the kids to light bulbs and kitchen plasticware, we try to have what is needed. The shop floor is tiled but some of them are cracked from moving heavy crates around. I spend most of my day standing or sitting on a wooden bench. The street outside is always full of people walking to the market or catching a rickshaw. It’s not a very big shop, so we have to hang some items from the ceiling hooks to make more room. Sometimes the light inside is a bit dim, but we know where everything is kept. I handle most of the work myself, but my nephew comes by on weekends to help with the inventory. We don’t do any advertising; people just see the sign and walk in. It’s been a part of this lane for a long time now. We see the same faces every week, and you get to know who likes what. It’s a simple, honest way to spend the day, making sure the local families have a place to buy their small necessities without going too far.