Sunil Trading Company

If you head down to Bazar Sirkiwalan near the old Excelsior Cinema, you will find Sunil Trading Company at number 5022. Hauz Qazi is a very old part of the city and it shows. The streets are narrow and always packed with people, carts, and rickshaws. Our shop is right in the thick of it. It is a small space with high ceilings and shelves that go all the way to the top. We have to use a ladder to reach the stuff we don't use every day. The air is always thick with the smell of the market—spices, exhaust, and old stone. The Excelsior Cinema is a good landmark, though it is not what it used to be. Inside the shop, it is dark and a bit cooler than the street. We have a heavy iron safe that has been here since the place opened. The counter is made of thick wood and is smoothed down from years of hands resting on it. We spend the day talking to people who come in off the street. It is loud and chaotic outside, but we have our own little system inside. We write everything down in thick registers with blue ink. There is no air conditioning, just a big old ceiling fan that pushes the warm air around. It is an old-fashioned way of doing things, but it works for us and has for many years.