B. M. Rastogi & Sons

If you’ve ever walked through the narrow lanes of Chandni Chowk, you know how crowded it gets. We are located at No. 429 on the 1st Floor in Katra Choban. B. M. Rastogi & Sons has been part of this area for a long time, and the stairs up to the first floor are a bit steep and worn down from years of people coming and going. The air in Katra Choban always smells like old paper and textile dust. Our shop isn't very large, so we have to stack our stock right up to the ceiling to make everything fit. It’s a family-run thing, and we usually have someone sitting near the entrance to keep an eye on the hallway. The noise from the street below never really stops, with vendors shouting and rickshaws honking, but we’ve lived with it so long we barely notice it anymore. We spend the day going through ledgers and showing samples to whoever climbs up to see us. It’s a lot of sitting and talking, mixed with a bit of heavy lifting when new bundles arrive. We don’t bother with fancy displays because most people who come to No. 429 already know what they’re looking for. It’s a traditional way of doing things, and we don't see any reason to change it. We just keep track of the stock and make sure the sons are learning the trade like the father did.