Vinay Chat Bhandar

Ghumar Mandi is a very loud and busy place to have a shop. We are right there near Sardar Jewellers, and the street is always full of people shopping for clothes or jewelry. At Vinay Chat Bhandar, we start prepping the potatoes and boiling the chickpeas early in the day. The smell of the tamarind chutney is quite strong, and you can usually catch it from the corner of the lane. We don't have much room for sitting, so most people just stand around the counter and eat from the leaf bowls. The sound of the metal ladle hitting the tawa is something we hear all day long. It gets very crowded in the evenings, and sometimes it is hard to keep track of who ordered what, but we manage somehow. We use a lot of fresh curd, and we have to get it delivered every day so it doesn't sour in the heat. Our floor gets a bit messy with all the foot traffic, so we are always reaching for the broom. We have been in this market for years, and we know most of the other shopkeepers around here. It is just a small chat stall, nothing more. We don't try to be fancy. We just serve the same kind of snacks that people in Ludhiana have been eating for a long time. It is honest work and it keeps us on our feet.