Mera Departmental Store

This shop is tucked away in Shop No 5 of the F Block DDA Market in Ashok Vihar 1. It’s a typical Delhi market scene, always a bit of a scramble for parking and people moving everywhere. We are quite close to Shri Kishan Mandir, and on some days you can hear the bells and the prayers while we work. I usually start by checking the stock of pulses and grains because that’s what most families in this part of Delhi come in for. The shelves go all the way to the ceiling, so I have to use a small wooden ladder to reach the top rows. It’s a bit cramped inside when more than three or four people enter at once, but we manage. My hands are usually a bit dusty from handling the sacks of flour or rice. We don’t have a big staff, just a couple of us who know where everything is hidden. Sometimes a customer asks for something we haven't seen in months, and we have to go digging through the back. The lighting isn't the brightest, but it’s comfortable enough for a neighborhood store. We see the same faces every week, mostly mothers and elderly men who live in the nearby blocks. They tell us about their families while I’m weighing out the sugar or looking for a specific brand of tea. It is just a regular life here, keeping things organized and making sure the shop stays open for whoever needs their daily groceries.