Chandana Kirana

Chandana Kirana is right here in Ward No. 5 in Markan village. We are located very close to the Shiv Mandir, so you can usually hear the temple bells from our front door. It’s a small shop, mostly filled with bags of grains, soaps, and the stuff people need for their kitchens every day. I spend a lot of time just moving boxes around and making sure we don't run out of salt or tea leaves. Being in the Satara taluka, we get a mix of people coming through. Some are just passing by after visiting the temple, while others have lived in Markan their whole lives. The space is a bit cramped because we try to fit as much as possible on the shelves. Sometimes the floor gets a little dusty from the road outside, but we sweep it when we can. It’s just me and a couple of family members helping out most of the time. We open early because that's when people want their milk and bread. By evening, it gets a bit crowded with everyone stopping by on their way home. We don't have a computer or anything like that, just a notebook for keeping track of what we need to order next. It is just a regular village shop doing what it does. Nothing more to it than that, really. We've been in this spot for a while now.