Giani Fertilizers

Mullanpur 76 is a quiet place most of the time, away from the main city noise. Giani Fertilizers sits right on the edge of the road. I open up the shutters very early because the farmers are already awake and starting their work. The shop always smells like earth and bags of chemicals, but I’ve gotten used to it after all these years. We have heavy bags stacked up to the ceiling in the back room. It involves a lot of lifting and moving things around. My back usually starts hurting by the time I go home in the evening. People come in and ask me about their crops and what they should use for the next season. I just tell them what I have in stock here at Mullanpur 76. Sometimes the supply trucks are late from the warehouse, and we just have to sit and wait. I’ve seen the weather change everything for the farmers in just one afternoon. If it doesn't rain when it should, nobody comes into the shop at all. If it rains too much, it's the same situation. We have a small wooden desk where I keep all the account books. Everything is written down by hand with a blue pen. I don't really use a computer for anything here. It’s just Giani Fertilizers, a basic place for the local growers. We talk about the grain prices and the cost of diesel while we wait for the next customer.