Vinod Kumar & Sons

Down in Chaura Bazar, you’ll find us at Vinod Kumar & Sons. We are situated on Bandu Gokhale Path. If you’ve ever been to Chaura Bazar, you know how crowded and noisy it is. Our shop is tucked in there with all the others. My sons and I run the place together. It can get a bit cramped with all three of us behind the counter, but we make it work. We’ve been in this spot for a long time, and the building shows its age with the creaky floorboards and the faded paint on the window frames. We sell a variety of things, mostly whatever the local people in the bazar are looking for that week. It’s a busy life. There is always someone shouting outside or a rickshaw bell ringing. We don't have a lot of peace and quiet until we close the shutters at night. People come to us because we’ve been here forever and they trust that we aren't going anywhere. We don't do fancy packaging or anything like that. You get your items in a simple brown bag and we count the change out by hand. Sometimes the power goes out and we have to use candles, which makes the whole shop look different. It’s a bit of a struggle sometimes with the heat and the crowds, but it’s the family business and we take pride in just being here every day. It’s our life on Bandu Gokhale Path.