Varinder Sharma Karyana Store

Usually, the first thing I do in the morning is pull up the metal shutters and sweep the front step of our shop. Varinder Sharma Karyana Store is right near Piplawala School, so we see a lot of activity when the kids are heading to class. It’s a busy little corner of Ludhiana. We’ve been operating from this spot at B-1-1551 in Chhawani Mohalla for a long time now. Most of our day is spent weighing out things like sugar, pulses, and rice for the local families. It’s a very hands-on kind of job. The shelves are pretty packed with all the usual stuff you’d expect, like soaps, tea leaves, and cooking oils. We don’t have anything fancy here, just the basics that people need for their kitchens every day. Sometimes the delivery truck is late and we have to tell people to come back later for their favorite brand of flour. It’s a bit frustrating but that’s just how it goes sometimes. The store gets crowded in the evenings when everyone is coming home from work and realizes they forgot to buy something for dinner. We spend a lot of time just chatting with the neighbors while we work. You get to know everyone's business after a while. It’s a simple life running a shop like this. We don’t have a website or any big advertisements. People just know we are here near the school and they stop by when they need something.