Pravin Masalawala

If you go down to Hadapsar, you will find us working away at Pravin Masalawala. The first thing you usually notice before you even see the shop is the smell of the spices. It is very strong and it hits you as soon as you turn the corner—chili, coriander, and turmeric all mixed together. We spend our days measuring out powders and filling up bags for the people who come in from the local market. The machines for grinding are quite old and they make a steady thumping noise that we have grown used to over the years. It is a dusty job and by the end of the shift, our clothes are usually stained with different colors of spice. We don't have a lot of room in the shop, so everything is stacked high up to the ceiling. We know exactly which sack is which, even if it looks like a mess to someone else. Customers come in and tell us what they are cooking, and we give them what they need. It is a simple way to earn a living and we have been doing it in Hadapsar for a long time. There is no air conditioning, just a couple of ceiling fans that move the spicy air around. We keep the ledger on a small wooden desk near the front and write everything down by hand. It is just a traditional shop doing things the way they have always been done.