Rahat Umbrella

Our place is on Grant Road, right next to the Municipal Industrial Estate at number 349. It’s an old building, and the walls have seen a lot of monsoons. Rahat Umbrella is what we call it. Selling umbrellas is a funny business because everyone forgets about you until the clouds turn grey and the rain starts pouring down. Then suddenly, everyone is running inside our shop soaking wet, looking for something to keep them dry. We have all sorts of umbrellas, big ones for families and those small ones that fit in a bag. I’ve been repairing them too, fixing the metal ribs that snap when the wind gets too strong. It’s a lot of fiddly work with wires and fabric. During the dry months, things are much slower. I sit here and prep for the next season. The industrial estate next door brings in a lot of workers who walk past every day. Some of them have been buying from us for ten years. We aren't some big factory outlet. It’s just a shop with shelves full of black and colored cloth. Sometimes the roof leaks a little when it rains really hard, which is a bit ironic for an umbrella shop. I just put a bucket under it and keep working. It’s a simple life here on Grant Road. We just keep doing what we know. My hands are usually stained with dye or grease, but that's part of the trade.