Lekhraj Kirana Store

Lekhraj Kirana Store is right at Kherli Phatak. If you know this area, you know how it gets near the railway crossing. Every time the gate closes for a train, we get a bit of a crowd waiting outside, and sometimes those people pop in for a pack of biscuits or a cold bottle of water to pass the time. The shop is small and usually filled with the mixed smell of spices and loose tobacco. We have been here at Kherli Phatak for a long time, watching the trains go by and seeing the neighborhood change slowly around us. My father used to run things here, and now I handle the daily sales and the morning deliveries. We stock the usual stuff like various pulses, sugar, and mustard oil. The glass jars on the front counter are filled with colorful candies for the kids who come by after their school finishes. It gets a bit cramped inside when more than two people are trying to shop at the same time. We don't have any bright lights or big fancy displays to show off. Just the basic stuff stacked on the walls. Sometimes I spend the whole afternoon just repackaging items into smaller plastic portions for the daily wage earners. It is a slow pace of life until the train passes and the traffic starts moving again with a lot of honking. We know most of the people who live in the narrow streets nearby. It is just a local spot for regular people.