Sri Meenakshi Store

You can find our store at 45 Muthanantha Puram in Iluppaiyurani. It’s been sitting on this corner for quite a few years now. We sell basic groceries and kitchen staples that most families around here use every day. The shop is pretty small, and we have shelves stacked right up to the ceiling with jars and packets. We spend a lot of our time climbing ladders to get things down for customers. It’s a bit of a workout. We open up the shutters early in the morning and stay until late in the evening. There isn't much room to move around when more than three people are inside at once. We know most of the kids who come in to buy snacks after school. It’s a friendly place, but we don't have any fancy displays or bright lights. Most of the furniture is old wood that has been here since we started. We do our accounts in a thick paper ledger because we never really got the hang of using a computer for that. Sometimes the electricity goes out in the afternoon, but we just keep the doors open for the natural light. We carry heavy bags of rice out to people's cycles or scooters almost every hour. It's a busy life, but it keeps us connected to the neighborhood. We just focus on keeping the shelves full and the floor swept.