Xpress Mart

Xpress Mart is a little shop at No.10 on Bharathiyar Road in Karaikal. We aren't one of those big malls you see in the city. We are just a local spot where you can grab the basics. I spend most of my day behind the counter. The shelves are packed with everything from soap to snacks and some bottled drinks. Karaikal is a coastal town so it gets very humid. I usually have a small fan pointed right at me. The floor is made of old tiles that have seen a lot of feet over the years. Bharathiyar Road is fairly busy so we get a lot of people walking in while they wait for their bus or just passing through. We don't have a big team. It is just me and a couple of relatives who take turns. Sometimes we run out of things and people have to wait for the next delivery truck. That is just how a small business goes. We don't do any fancy marketing or discounts. We just sell things at the price on the pack. It is a quiet existence mostly. In the evenings, the local guys stop by to chat for a bit. We know everyone’s name around here. I have to dust the items every morning because the road outside is quite busy. There is a small stool in the corner where I sit when there are no customers. Most of the time, the radio is playing old songs.