T.M. Mohamedally

T.M. Mohamedally has been part of the Lohar Chawl scene for quite some time now. If you’ve ever walked through the streets near Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, you know how packed it gets. Our spot at number 112 is right in the thick of it. It’s an old building, and the space inside is quite narrow, with shelves going all the way up to the ceiling. We have things stacked in every possible corner because there just isn't enough room to keep everything neatly laid out. It’s a bit of a maze, really. During the day, the noise from the street outside is constant—lots of horns, people shouting, and the general hum of the city. We have a small wooden counter where we talk to everyone who walks in. It’s mostly regular faces we see, people from the neighborhood or others who have been coming to Lohar Chawl for years. We don’t use any computers for the main stuff; most of our notes are handwritten in big ledger books that have seen better days. It gets very hot in the summer months because the ventilation isn't great, but we have a couple of old fans that do their best. We’re not a big corporate showroom. It is just a traditional shop where we know where everything is, even if it looks like a mess to someone else. It feels like home to us after all these years spent behind the counter.