Arika Arts & Crafts

Our little spot is over at Plot M-18 in Sahakar Nagar. It’s right near the Gajananad Maharashtra Mandir, so we get a lot of people walking by after they’ve been to the temple. It’s a nice spot, though parking can be a bit of a nightmare on festival days. We started Arika Arts & Crafts because we had too much stuff at home and needed a place to put it. Now it’s full of paints, brushes, and all sorts of bits for school projects or people who like to knit. The shop isn’t huge, so you have to watch your elbows when you’re walking through the aisles. We don’t really have a big staff, usually just one of us behind the counter listening to the radio. Sometimes the neighbors come in just to escape the heat for a bit. We don't mind. It gets a bit dusty with all the paper and fabric around, but we try to keep it tidy. It's funny how many people come in looking for one specific color of thread and end up staying for twenty minutes talking about their garden. We don’t do much advertising. People just find us because they live nearby or they saw the sign while walking to the temple. It’s a simple life running a craft shop. We keep the doors open as long as there’s light outside, mostly. It feels good to be tucked away in this part of town.