Dhanlaxmi Sweets

Our shop is right there at Sakinaka in Kalewadi. It's a busy junction. Dhanlaxmi Sweets has been here for a good while. We make most of the stuff in the back room. You can usually smell the sugar and ghee from the street. We don't use fancy packaging. Just the regular cardboard boxes and plastic wrap. During festivals like Diwali or Ganesh Chaturthi, it gets really chaotic. We stay up all night making laddus and barfis. Sometimes we run out of milk and have to call the supplier ten times. My father started this because he knew how to make pedas from his village. He taught me, and now I do it. The glass display case is old and has a few scratches. We clean it every day, but it’s seen better times. Customers come in and point at what they want. We give them a taste if they aren't sure. Most people just want something sweet after dinner. We don't have air conditioning, so the fans are always on. It gets hot near the big kadhais. We don't do any delivery or anything. You just come to the shop and buy what’s fresh. Sometimes the batch isn't perfect, maybe a bit too brown, but people still like it. It feels like a real part of the Kalewadi community. We know most of the kids who come in for a single piece of candy.