Hariom Kirana & General Store

Kota is famous for many things, but for us, it’s just home. Hariom Kirana & General Store is located at Shop No-363 on Aditya Awas Road in Bajrang Nagar. We’re not far from Krishna Vihar Road. The sun in Rajasthan can be really something else, so the shop usually feels like a cool refuge for people walking by. I keep the floor swept, but the dust always finds its way back in. I sell all the usual stuff—spices, grains, soaps, and cold drinks. The fridge hums quite loudly in the corner, but I’ve gotten used to it over the years. My morning starts by checking what needs to be ordered from the wholesalers. I write it all down on scraps of paper that I usually lose by midday. Most of my customers are the locals who live in the housing colonies nearby. We talk about the kids or the local politics while I measure out sugar. The shop is my whole life, really. I’m here from early morning until the streetlights come on. Sometimes the delivery guys leave the crates right in the doorway, and I have to move them myself, which is a bit of a chore. It’s a basic place, nothing like those big supermarkets they have in the city center, but people seem to appreciate that I’m always here when they need something.