Santosh Kumar General Store

If you walk through Saadatganj and get to the Mahboobganj Chawraha, you’ll see Santosh Kumar General Store. I’ve been sitting behind this counter for years now. It started small, just a few jars of candy and some basic grains, but now we have all sorts of things packed into the room. We have pulses, spices, detergents, and whatever else a kitchen might need. Lucknow is a city of food, so people are very picky about their spices, and we try to keep the stuff they like. The Chawraha is always loud with rickshaws and people shouting, so there is never a quiet moment here. My son helps me with the heavy lifting and the deliveries when someone nearby can't walk over. We have a lot of regular customers from the old houses around Saadatganj. They come in for a kilo of sugar and end up staying for twenty minutes to talk about the weather or local news. The wooden shelves are old and have been painted a few times. Sometimes the rain leaks in near the front door, so we have to move the bags of flour quickly. It is just a neighborhood shop. We don’t have big signs or bright lights. It’s just a place where you can get your daily groceries without any fuss. We try to keep our prices fair so the local families can afford what they need. It is hard work but we are part of the community.