Shubham Kirana

Shubham Kirana is tucked into Kadamkuan in Patna. It’s a basic grocery shop, nothing more than that. We have the big sacks of rice and lentils sitting on the floor. The air smells like turmeric and raw sugar most of the time. 800003 is the code for the mail but most people just walk in from the nearby houses. I spend my mornings weighing out bags of flour or pulses for the people who come by. The scales are a bit old but they still work fine. Kadamkuan is a busy place so there is always noise from the street coming through the front. I don’t have a lot of help, just me and occasionally my nephew. We keep the daily stuff like matches, oil, and soap near the front so people can grab them fast. The shelves are made of wood and they lean a little bit under the weight of the jars. I keep a ledger for the people who pay at the end of the month. It’s a very normal way of doing things. Patna can be very dusty so I have to wipe down the packets every single day. I don’t use any computers here. It’s just pen and paper and the weight of the goods. If someone needs a kilo of sugar, I get it from the back. That is how Shubham Kirana has always been. It’s just a neighborhood store for the locals.