S Ambalal Patel & Co. (Mysore Tea Depot)

We’ve been here at S Ambalal Patel & Co. (Mysore Tea Depot) for a long time now. If you know the area near the Hanuman Temple in Simti Gali, you probably know our door. It’s a busy little spot, especially in the mornings when the temple bells are going. We mostly just spend our days dealing with tea. It comes in big sacks and we have to move things around quite a bit to make space. The shop isn't very large, so we have to be organized, though sometimes the paperwork piles up on the small desk in the corner. My father used to sit there, and now I do, mostly just checking the stock and talking to people who walk in from the gali. It’s dusty work sometimes, moving those heavy bags. We keep the Mysore Tea Depot name on the sign outside because that's how everyone remembers us. The air always smells a bit like dry leaves here. Sometimes the neighbors come by just to chat for a minute while we’re weighing things out. It’s not a fancy place, just a regular shop with some old wooden shelves and a floor that needs sweeping twice a day because of all the foot traffic. We try to keep things simple. If you find the temple, you just walk a few steps and there we are. It’s just how things have always been in this part of town, really.