Shekhar General Store

I open the shutters every morning around eight here on Khagaul Road. It’s usually quiet then, before the traffic near Kumar Market really picks up. My name is Shekhar, and I’ve been running this general store in Mithapur for quite a while now. The shop isn't huge, but we pack a lot into these four walls. You’ll see bags of rice stacked near the entrance and shelves full of biscuits, soaps, and those little packets of spices people always forget to buy until they're cooking dinner. Patna gets really dusty, so I spend a good chunk of my morning just wiping down the jars and bottles. It’s a lot of work, but I like keeping things somewhat tidy. My nephew helps me out during the busy afternoon hours when everyone comes in for their daily milk or bread. We know most of the people who live around here by name. Sometimes they just stop by to complain about the heat or the road construction while they pick up their groceries. We don’t have fancy displays or anything like that. It’s just a regular place where you can get what you need for your kitchen. I try to keep everything stocked so nobody has to go all the way into the main market for a single bar of soap. It's a simple life, mostly just counting change and making sure the fridge is running for the cold drinks. That’s pretty much how things go here every day.