Chandan Sweets

We open the shutters pretty early here at Chandan Sweets on Kalidasa Marg 3. Most mornings start with the smell of milk boiling and sugar syrup being prepped. It's a small place in Nanded, nothing too fancy, but we keep things clean. My father started this and now I'm here most days along with two helpers who have been with us for years. We make the laddoos and barfis in small batches so they don't sit around for too long. Sometimes the afternoon gets quiet when the sun is out, then people start dropping by after work. The floor is old stone and the counters are glass. We spend a lot of time wiping things down and making sure the boxes are stacked right. People from around the neighborhood know where we are, right near the corner. We don't really do big advertisements or anything like that. If someone wants a box of gulab jamun or some snacks for a tea break, they just walk in. The traffic on Kalidasa Marg can be a bit much sometimes, but inside it’s just the sound of the fridge humming and us talking to regulars. We try to keep the display looking okay, though sometimes we run out of the popular stuff before evening. It’s just a regular local shop where we work every day. We’ve seen the kids here grow up and start coming in with their own children now. That’s just how it goes here in Nanded. I hope the fans stay working today because it gets hot.