Star Spices

If you go down Kucha Shiv Mandir in Fatehpuri, you’ll find us at 6410. It’s a tight squeeze in Katra Bariyan, especially when the spice bags are being unloaded. The air here always smells like black pepper and turmeric. It makes you sneeze if you aren't used to it. We've been in this spot for a long time. The building is old, with narrow stairs and thick walls. We don't have a fancy showroom. It's mostly bags stacked high to the ceiling. We spend our mornings checking the quality of the new arrivals. Sometimes the spice grinders in the back make a lot of noise, so you have to shout to be heard. We know all the other shopkeepers around here. We trade stories while we wait for the laborers to move the stock. It’s a busy life. My hands are usually stained with some color or another by the end of the shift. We aren't on any social media or stuff like that. People just know where Katra Bariyan is and they find Star Spices. We have a small wooden desk where we sit and write out the bills. Sometimes the electricity flickers, but we have a few lanterns ready. It’s how things have been for years. We just keep going, making sure the sacks are full and the customers get what they asked for. Our scale is an old manual one, but it still works better than the digital ones we tried once.