Uttam Sweets

If you walk down the road in Hadapsar 4 early in the morning, you’ll probably see the steam coming out from our side door. We start the milk boiling before the sun is even up. It takes a lot of stirring to get the sweets right, and your arms definitely feel it by midday. We’ve got the large metal pans lined up and the smell of ghee is everywhere. The front counter gets crowded around breakfast time when people are looking for something quick. We try to keep the glass cases clean, but with so many hands pointing at things, it’s a constant battle with a rag and some spray. Uttam Sweets isn't a big chain or anything. It’s just a local shop where we know most of the faces that come through the door. Sometimes we run out of the popular stuff by the afternoon, and we just have to tell people to come back tomorrow. It’s just how it goes when you make things fresh daily. My brother handles the frying and I usually stand at the register. We talk to the neighbors about the weather or the traffic while we bag up their orders. The floor gets a bit sticky sometimes, so we have to mop it three or four times a day. It’s a simple life here in Hadapsar, just making traditional items and serving the neighborhood. We hope to stay here doing this for a long time to come.