Jai Hari Pan Stall

You can find Jai Hari Pan Stall over at Shastri Nagar Sheikh Memon Street. It’s not a big building or anything, just a small stall tucked into the corner near the market. I spend most of my day standing here in this small space, surrounded by the smell of kattha and fresh lime. The street outside is always full of people walking to the shops. I see the same faces every single morning. There’s an old man who comes by at exactly ten o'clock for his daily pan, and we usually talk about the weather or how the prices of vegetables keep going up. The stall is made of wood and metal, and I’ve had to fix the roof a few times when it leaked during the monsoon season. Inside, I’ve got rows of glass jars filled with different mixtures, colorful sprinkles, and pieces of dried coconut. It takes a lot of practice to get the fold of the pan just right so it doesn't fall apart when someone takes a bite. I don't really use a calculator much, I just know the prices by heart after all this time. When it gets dark, I turn on the single tube light and it makes the whole stall glow. It feels like a little island in the middle of all the chaos on Sheikh Memon Street. I don't think I'd know what to do with myself if I wasn't here working.