J. D. Thote Dairies

We are based at 13/14, Hari Niwas, which is on L.J. Road right near Shivaji Park in Dadar. It is a very busy area, especially in the mornings when everyone is out for their walks or heading to the station. Our dairy work starts way before the sun comes up. You can hear the milk cans clinking and the vans pulling up while most of the city is still asleep. It’s a damp kind of work, always a bit of water on the floor from cleaning the equipment. We have been in this spot for a long time, so most of the people in the neighborhood know our faces. We don't spend money on big ads or anything like that. The shop is small and we keep things simple. If you come by, you'll probably see me or one of the boys hauling crates around. The building itself, Hari Niwas, is one of those classic Dadar structures. It’s got character, even if the stairs are a bit narrow. We don't try to be anything we're not. We just handle the dairy products and make sure they get to where they need to go every single day. There’s no holiday in this business because people always need their milk and curd. It’s a lot of physical work and not much sitting down, but that's how we've always done it.