Chikan Paradise

Operating out of Shopprix Mall in Sector 61 has its own rhythm. Chikan Paradise is tucked away at 326 A, and being in a mall means we deal with a different crowd than a street shop. We have all these racks filled with Lucknowi work, mostly kurtas and suits that we bring in from outside. It gets quite bright under those mall lights, which helps people see the threadwork properly, I guess. The weekends are usually a bit of a scramble because everyone is out shopping after a long week. We spend a lot of time unfolding things for customers to see and then folding them back up again when they don’t buy. It’s just part of the job. Some people know exactly what they want, while others spend an hour looking at every single shade of pink we have. We try to keep the stock fresh, but sometimes shipments get delayed and we just have to make do with what is on the shelves at that moment. The air conditioning is nice during the summer months, though it can get a bit chilly if you’re standing still for too long. We’ve been in this unit for a bit, and the shopkeepers around here are all pretty friendly. We share snacks and talk about how the footfall is doing. It’s a decent place to work, even if the music from the mall corridors gets a bit repetitive after a few hours every single day.