Mahesh Travel Agency

Running a travel agency in Mumbai is mostly about being on the phone all day. Our spot here is simple. You’ll see piles of papers and calendars marked with different dates. People walk in off the street asking about train tickets or flights to places we sometimes have to look up on a map. Mahesh Travel Agency isn't a huge operation. It’s just us trying to make sure people get where they need to go without too much trouble. The traffic outside is always loud, and you can hear the horns honking from the main road from morning until late at night. We spend a lot of time refreshing screens and waiting for bookings to go through. Sometimes the systems are slow, and we just sit there chatting with whoever is waiting in the chair across the desk. We’ve seen the city change a lot from this office. There’s always someone in a hurry, and we try to keep up with that pace. It gets hot in the afternoons, but the small AC unit does its best. We don't do fancy vacation packages with brochures; it’s more about the practical side of traveling, like getting a seat on a crowded train or finding a decent hotel that doesn't cost too much. It's a lot of work, but it keeps us busy and we know a lot of the regulars by their first names now, which makes the long hours feel a bit shorter.