Sri Shivani General Store

Most mornings start early here at Sri Shivani General Store on the Main Road in Narahi. I get here before the sun is really up to sweep the front and make sure things are ready for the office crowd. Lucknow can get quite dusty, so cleaning the glass jars is a never-ending job that I usually do while sipping my first tea. We’ve been at this spot for a while now. People stop by for small things, maybe a packet of biscuits or some detergent they forgot to buy earlier in the week. It’s a small space, really, but we manage to fit a lot in. There are bags of rice stacked in the corner and rows of soaps on the shelves near the counter. Sometimes the traffic on the road gets so loud you can’t hear what the customer is asking for. We just nod and wait for a gap in the honking. My nephew helps out in the afternoons when his classes are over. He’s much better at counting the change than I am these days. The 226001 area is always busy, so there is rarely a quiet moment until late at night when the shutters finally come down. We don't have fancy displays or anything like that. It's just a regular shop where you get what you need and maybe chat for a minute about the weather or the rising price of onions. That’s how it goes every day.