Manoj Beej Bhandar

Manoj Beej Bhandar is at 25-A in the Dhanmandi area. If you’ve ever been to the grain market, you know it’s a place that never really stops moving. Our shop is filled with sacks of seeds for all kinds of crops, from wheat and corn to smaller vegetable seeds. The smell in here is very specific—it’s a mix of dry earth and treated seeds. We spend a lot of time talking to the farmers who come in from the nearby villages. They have a lot of questions about which seeds will grow best in their soil or how the weather is going to affect their planting this year. We don't have all the answers, but we tell them what we know from years of being in this market. The peak seasons are the busiest, when the shop is so full of people and bags that you can hardly move around. During those times, we’re on our feet from sunrise until late at night. In the off-season, things quiet down a bit, and we spend time cleaning the shop and organizing the inventory for the next round of planting. It’s a life tied to the seasons and the land. 25-A isn't a large spot, but it’s an important one for the people who rely on us for their livelihood.