Gaba Karyana Store

Every morning, we start by moving the heavy sacks around to make space for people to walk inside Gaba Karyana Store. Being tucked away behind Chand Cinema at B-11718/37/1, we get a lot of noise from the theater crowds. We are right in the middle of the action near Jagraon Bridge in Ludhiana. The shop isn't very big, so we have to be careful about where we stack the boxes of biscuits and detergent. Most of our customers are folks who live right here in the neighborhood. They come in for a kilo of dal or maybe a packet of salt. We don't use those high-tech billing machines; everything is written down in a notebook. It’s more personal that way, I think. The air in the shop always smells a bit like a mix of different spices and maybe a little bit of floor cleaner. It’s a familiar scent that I’ve grown used to over the years. Some days are busier than others, especially when the weather is nice and people are out walking. We keep the shelves stocked with the things people use every day. If someone needs a specific type of hair oil or a certain brand of tea, we usually have it hidden somewhere on a shelf. The counter is a bit worn out from all the years of sliding heavy bags across it. It’s just a regular shop where we do our best to keep the neighbors happy. We don't have any big corporate plans.