Ashok Masala Packers

Upper Bazar is always a bit of a squeeze, and that is where we spend our days at Ashok Masala Packers. Our place is on Cart Sarai Road, tucked into the By Lay. It is a busy spot. You can hear the noise of the market from inside all day long. We mostly focus on packing up different masalas. The air in the shop usually smells like cumin or sharp chili, depending on what we are working on that morning. It makes the workers sneeze sometimes, but we are used to it by now. We do not have those huge, shiny machines you see in videos. A lot of what we do is done by hand or with simple tools. We weigh the spices, put them in bags, and seal them up tight. It is a routine that keeps us busy from morning until the sun starts to go down. The floor is concrete and has some cracks, and the walls could probably use a new coat of paint, but it works for us. We have a small wooden desk where the registers are kept. Sometimes the neighbor from the next shop comes over for a quick tea and a chat about how the market is doing. We are not trying to be some big international company. We just pack our spices and get them out to the people who need them. It is honest work and it keeps the lights on.