Raju Namkin Bhandar

Working at Raju Namkin Bhandar near the Mill Gate means we are always surrounded by the sound of machinery and trucks. The air around here is a bit heavy and it gets very hot near our big frying vats. We make a lot of savory snacks every day and the smell of oil is everywhere. When the mill shift changes, we get a huge rush of workers wanting to take some namkeen home. We pack everything in simple plastic bags and tie them with yellow thread. It is a lot of hard work and we are usually on our feet from early morning until late at night. The shop is just a basic room with some counters and a lot of tin containers. We don't have a lot of space to move around once the bags are filled and stacked up. I usually have to shout over the noise of the traffic to talk to the customers. The Mill Gate area is quite dusty so we are always cleaning the front of the shop. We don’t do any advertising or anything like that, people just know we are here because of the smell of the snacks being made. It’s a tough job but it keeps us busy and we have been doing it for a long time now. My brother handles the frying while I take care of the customers and the scales.