Chacha Halwai

Our shop Chacha Halwai is located right on the corner of Nana Peth near New Link Road 563. It is a noisy area with lots of horns honking and people shouting, but inside it is mostly about the smell of sugar syrup and frying. We have these massive iron pots that have been used for years. They are heavy and take two people to move when we need to wash them out at night. The walls have turned a bit yellow from the steam over time, but we keep the counters as clean as we can. Every morning, the milk delivery comes in early and we have to get it boiling right away. It is a hot job, standing over the big stoves, especially when the afternoon sun hits the back of the building. We do not use any big machines to mix things, we just do it by hand with long wooden paddles. It makes your shoulders ache after a few hours, but that is just how we do things here. People stop by on their scooters and leave them idling while they run in for a quick parcel. We use a lot of paper bags and string to tie things up. The New Link Road is always changing, with new buildings going up, but our little corner stays pretty much the same. We have a small stool in the corner where we take turns sitting down for five minutes when the rush dies down.