Mahadev Fruit Company

Mahadev Fruit Company is right on Ramdev Road. I get up at four in the morning to get the fresh fruit from the bigger market. It’s hard work, loading and unloading the crates every single day. We have whatever is in season. Right now, the mangoes are coming in, so the whole shop smells sweet. In the winter, it’s mostly oranges and apples. I try to pick the best ones, but sometimes a batch isn't great, and I have to sort through them by hand. My hands are always stained from something. We don't have fancy displays, just wooden crates stacked up. Sometimes the cows from the road try to sneak a snack if I'm not looking. It gets hot in the afternoons, so I keep the fans running to stop the fruit from getting soft too fast. People stop by on their way home from work to pick up a kilo of bananas or some grapes for their kids. Ramdev Road is always noisy, but I like the sound of the traffic. It means people are moving. I’ve been doing this for years, and my father did it before me. We aren't a big corporation. It's just a fruit stall where you can get something fresh. I spend a lot of time weighing things on the scale and chatting with the regulars about how the prices are going up. Life is busy, but it's okay. I hope the rains are good this year so the fruit stays cheap for everyone in the neighborhood.