Vikram Sabut Masala

Our place, Vikram Sabut Masala, sits right in Dhonga village, which is part of the Deosar tehsil in Sidhi district. Being near the State Bank makes it easy for people to find us when they are out doing their banking chores. The air around here usually smells like raw spices because we deal with whole masalas all day long. It is a rural setting, so things move a little slower than they do in the big cities, which suits us just fine. Inside, we have bags of various spices stacked up against the walls. Some of the sacks are heavy, so moving them around is our workout for the day. The floor is concrete and stays cool even when the Sidhi heat gets intense outside. We don’t use any fancy computer systems for every little thing; a lot of our notes are still written down in big ledgers with blue ink. Sometimes the power goes out in the afternoon, and we just sit by the doorway to catch the breeze until it comes back on. It is honest work and it keeps us busy from morning until evening. We know the local farmers and the people who come in from the nearby villages. It is just a regular life here in the village, focused on the smells and textures of the spices we handle every single day without much fuss or noise.