Manohar Lal & Sons

Our family has been in Naya Bans for a long time. Manohar Lal & Sons is the name on the board, but most people just know us as the shop near Chandni Chowk. This area is incredibly old and the streets are so narrow that sometimes two people can barely pass each other. It’s always crowded and noisy, with rickshaws and people shouting everywhere. Our shop is small and the walls are thick, keeping it a bit cooler than the street outside. We sell a variety of items wholesale, mostly stuff that has been in demand here for decades. The shelves are made of dark wood and they go all the way to the ceiling, so we have to use a ladder to reach the top. It’s a bit of a maze inside with all the boxes piled up. My sons help me out now, so there are three of us usually working the floor. We don’t have a fancy display or bright lights. We just rely on the fact that people know where we are and that we’ve been here forever. The building itself shows its age, with some cracks in the plaster and uneven floors, but it has character. We spend our days drinking tea and talking to the other shopkeepers while we wait for orders. It’s a slow pace of life inside a very fast city. We just keep doing what we know best and keep the place running.