Darshan Halwai

I've been working here in Gidarwandi for a good while now. Our shop is just right across from the government primary school, so we see the kids and teachers every single day when they come and go. It’s a quiet village usually, but things get busy when someone has a wedding or a small party at home. We mostly spend our time in the back kitchen area, stirring the milk for hours to make khoya or frying up snacks. It gets really hot back there in the summer, but that’s just how the work is. Most people around here know us by name, and they just stop by when they need some sweets for a guest or if they are hosting a lunch. We don’t really do much fancy stuff. It’s just traditional sweets and the usual things people like to eat. Sometimes we run out of things early if there’s a big rush, but we try to keep enough on the counter. The address is easy to find because everyone knows where the school is. I usually open up early in the morning to get the first batch of stuff ready before the sun gets too high. It's a simple life here in Ludhiana, and we just keep busy with the orders that come in from the neighbors and the nearby houses. We don't have a big team, just a few of us working hard to get everything done right.