Shree Ram Pan Shop

If you walk down Thimaiah road in Kalewadi, you’ll find us easily enough. It’s not a big place, just a small counter with a lot of jars lined up on the shelves. Each jar has something different in it, like dried fruits or different types of tobacco and spices. I spend most of my time standing behind the counter, putting things together on the leaves. My fingers are usually stained green or red by the end of the night. It’s a place where people stop for five minutes to have a chat after their dinner. We see a lot of the same people every evening. Sometimes we talk about the weather or how the local roads are being dug up again. The lighting is just a couple of bright bulbs that attract a lot of insects at night. I have a small radio that plays old songs in the background, though you can barely hear it over the sound of the bikes on Thimaiah road. It’s a simple life, just mixing and folding and handing things over to the customers. We stay open pretty late, long after the other shops have closed their doors. The street gets quiet eventually, and that’s when I start cleaning the glass jars and sweeping the small area around my feet. It’s just me and the shop, day in and day out. I usually lock up when the last street light starts to flicker.