Dilip Kumar & Co.

Dilip Kumar & Co. sits on the first floor of Chikhal House, right there on Kalbadevi Road. If you know that area, you know how packed the streets get with carts and people. Our building is old, number 455, and the stairs are a bit narrow, but it’s been our home for a long time. We do a lot of traditional trading and wholesale work from this office. It’s the kind of place where the phone is always ringing and there is always someone coming in to discuss a price or check on an old invoice. We don’t have any modern glass walls or shiny signs. It’s just a solid, old-school workspace with wooden desks and a lot of ledger books. Most of our days are spent coordinating with people across the market. Kalbadevi is the heart of the trade, so we are right in the middle of everything. It gets hot in the afternoons, but we have the fans going and keep the chai coming. We’ve known most of our clients for decades. Some of them are the sons of the people we started out with. We don’t do much advertising because people just know where to find us. It’s a bit cramped with all the files, but we know exactly where every paper is hidden. Work starts early and we usually don't leave until the market quietens down in the evening. It is a busy life but we enjoy it.