Chauhan Provisional Store

Archana Enclave is where we set up this store, right in Khoda Colony Sector 57. It is a crowded spot, and people are always coming and going. The shop is mostly full of the basic stuff like cooking oil, rice, and different kinds of lentils. We have those plastic jars lined up on the counter with candies and toffees for the children who come in after school. It is not a very big shop, so things are squeezed in wherever they can fit. Sometimes I have a hard time finding where I put the new stock of tea leaves. The colony is quite busy, and there is always someone knocking on the shutter if we are even five minutes late opening up in the morning. We spend a lot of time cleaning the dust off the packets because the road outside is always under some kind of repair. We have a small fridge for the milk and curd, and we have to make sure it is running right so things don’t spoil in the heat. I keep a small stool near the door but I hardly ever get to sit on it for long. Some people buy just one egg or a single pouch of oil, and that is fine with us. We see the same faces every day, which makes the work feel a bit easier. It is just a regular provisional store where we try to have what the kitchen needs. Most nights we are here until late.