Bombay Sandwich Corner

The road near Kamla Nehru Hospital in Koregaon Park is always busy, and that is where we have our small sandwich stall. It is not really a shop with big walls, more of a corner spot where we stand and work. We spend hours every day just slicing cucumbers and tomatoes into thin circles. The bread comes in big crates every morning from the bakery down the street. Being near Road 4 means we see all kinds of people, from doctors in white coats to students walking to their classes. The noise of the hospital sirens is something we have gotten used to. We have a small toaster that sometimes acts up, but we fix it with a bit of tapping. The chutney is made fresh in a small mixer we keep under the counter. Sometimes the line gets long and people get impatient, but we just keep working as fast as our hands allow. The sidewalk is narrow, so people have to stand close to each other while they eat. We don't have a place for people to sit down, they just lean against the wall or their scooters. It gets very bright in the afternoons, so we put up a blue plastic sheet to keep the sun off the vegetables. It’s just us and our knives and the bread, day after day, making sure things are ready for whoever walks by.