Sheetal General Store

This store has been in Budhwar Peth for a long time. We are right at the 1st Stage, 2nd Cross, at house number 1101. It’s a small shop, packed from floor to ceiling with everything from lentils and rice to soap and notebooks. I open the shutters around seven in the morning because that’s when people come by for milk or bread before they head to work. It’s a neighborhood spot. I know most of the people who walk in by their names, and I know what they usually buy before they even ask. It’s not like those big supermarkets where nobody talks to you. Here, we chat about the weather or the local news while I weigh out the grains. The shelves are a bit crowded and sometimes I have to use a ladder to reach the stuff at the very top. It gets busy in the evenings when everyone is coming home. My kids sometimes help out after school, though they mostly just want to eat the biscuits. Dealing with suppliers is the hardest part of the job, trying to make sure we don't run out of the popular items. We don't have a computer system; I still write things down in a ledger mostly. It works for me. It’s just a regular life running a regular shop. We keep things simple and try to have what people need for their daily cooking. It is a busy life but it is a good one.