Jiya General Store

If you are over by Sushma Hospital in the Indira Nagar area of Lucknow, you might have seen Jiya General Store. We are at number 95 in Mangalpuri. It’s a busy little corner because of the hospital. We get all sorts of people coming in—doctors in a hurry, families who are visiting patients, and the people who actually live in the houses around here. We try to keep a bit of everything because you never know what someone might need at the last minute. The shelves are packed tight, and sometimes things are a little hard to find if you don't know where to look. I try to keep it organized, but when it gets busy, that goes out the window. The Lucknow humidity can be tough, so the shop feels a bit stuffy sometimes, but we keep the door wide open. It’s not a fancy setup with glass aisles or anything like that. It’s just wooden shelves and some crates on the floor. We spend most of the day just chatting with people and making sure we have enough change in the drawer. It’s a simple way to make a living, and we’ve been doing it this way for a while now. We don't really think about it much, we just show up, open the locks, and see who comes through the door. It is just another day at the store in Indira Nagar.