Tayari General Store

If you walk through Patanpole, you’ll find Tayari General Store. It’s a small place packed with almost everything you’d need for the house. We have sacks of flour, different kinds of dals, and rows of soap and shampoo. It’s a bit cramped because we try to fit as much as possible on the shelves. The building is old, like most things in Patanpole, and the wooden counters have been worn smooth over time. I start early in the morning, taking deliveries of bread and milk before the sun gets too high. People from the neighborhood come in for their daily things. They usually stay for a bit of talk about the weather or the local news. We don't have a computer or anything, just a notebook for keeping track of things. Kids come in after school for candies or those small bags of chips. Sometimes it gets a bit chaotic when four or five people want things at once and I'm searching for a specific spice brand. But it’s a good kind of busy. The smell of the store is a mix of incense and spices. It’s been in the family for a while. We just keep the shelves stocked and the door open. It’s a simple life, making sure people have what they need for their dinner. On rainy days, the alley gets slippery, so we have to put some cardboard down near the entrance to keep people from sliding.