Harswaroop Mansingh Halwai

We have been over here in Shastri Nagar 41432 for quite some time now. Harswaroop Mansingh Halwai is the kind of place where the big milk vats are always going. You can smell the sugar and the ghee from down the street. I start my work very early, usually before the sun is even up, to get the first batch of sweets ready. The floor is made of old stone and gets quite slippery if we aren't careful with the milk. We have these large iron pans that have been used for years. They are heavy and hard to scrub, but they make the best stuff. The walls have some soot on them from the fires, but that’s just how a halwai shop looks. We don't have fancy packaging, just the regular cardboard boxes that we tie up with a bit of string. People come in for their morning snacks or to buy boxes for weddings. I’ve burnt my hands more times than I can count, but you get used to the heat. Shastri Nagar is a crowded place, and we are right in the thick of it. Sometimes the neighbors come in just to sit and talk for a bit while they wait for their orders. We don't have a lot of staff, so everyone does a bit of everything, from cooking to serving. It’s a lot of standing, but it’s what we do every day.