Gruhini Masale

Our little shop, Gruhini Masale, is located over on 2nd Cross in Kothrud. If you walk by in the morning, you can usually smell the spices before you even see the door. We spend a lot of our time grinding and mixing different things. It is dusty work, and the smell of the powders stays in your hair and clothes all day long. We use some old machines that make a lot of noise, but they do the job well enough. My hands are often stained from the turmeric or the dried chilies we handle. It is a small space, so things can get a bit crowded when we have a lot of big bags to move around. We do not do much in terms of decoration or making it look nice. The walls are mostly covered in wooden shelves for the different powders we make. People from around the neighborhood stop in for their weekly supply of spices. We know what most of them like without them even asking. It is a simple life for us. We wake up, open the heavy shutters, and start the grinders. Kothrud is a nice place to be, and 2nd Cross is usually busy with people going to and from their jobs. We just keep to ourselves and focus on getting the spice blends right every time. Sometimes the dust makes us sneeze, but that is just part of the work. We are not a big factory. It is just a local spot where we make masale.