Roy Store

Our little shop is tucked away in Anandapally, right in the Kudghat area of Tollygunge. If you know the auto stand here, you know where we are. It’s always crowded with people waiting for their rides. The noise from the auto drivers calling out destinations is like background music to our day. We’ve been in this spot for a long time. The store isn't very big. We have shelves packed with all sorts of things, sometimes so high it’s hard to reach the top ones without a stool. It gets a bit cramped when more than three people come in at once. We know most of the people who live in the nearby lanes. They stop in for a quick chat or to pick up things they forgot for dinner. In the evenings, the street lights come on and the area gets even busier. We keep a small radio behind the counter, usually playing some old songs. Tollygunge has changed a lot, but this corner feels the same. Sometimes the rain pours down and leaks a little near the front door, so we put a bucket there. It’s just a normal neighborhood store. We don’t have a website or anything like that. People just walk in. We keep track of everything in big ledgers with blue ink. It’s a simple way to live and work. We see the same faces every morning and that feels good. I usually have my tea around 4 PM while watching the traffic.