Bharat Hardware & General Storers

Our shop is at 970, Palnitkar Lane in Bhorapati. It’s one of those narrow lanes where you have to be careful when two bikes try to pass each other. Bharat Hardware & General Storers has been here for a long time, and the shelves are packed from the floor all the way to the ceiling. We have bins full of nails, screws, and all sorts of small parts that people need for their houses. It’s often a bit dark inside because the lane doesn't get much sunlight, so we keep the overhead lights on all day. People come in looking for a specific bolt or a particular tool, and we usually know exactly which corner it’s hidden in. It might look messy to someone else, but there is a system to all the clutter. We get a lot of locals who just want to fix a leaky pipe or hang a picture frame. The counter is old and a bit scratched up from years of heavy items being dragged across it. We spend a lot of time dusting off the boxes and counting out small items for customers. Bhorapati is a tight-knit area, so we know most of the people who walk through the door by their first names. We don’t have a computer for the bills, we just write everything down in a notebook. It’s a slow and steady kind of business, and that’s just fine by us.