Aggarwal Store

We've been here at C-4 Panchsheel Vihar for a long time now. Most people in Malviya Nagar know where the store is. It’s not a huge place, but we try to keep the shelves full of what people actually need every day. My father started this and now I spend most of my mornings checking the stock and talking to the milk delivery guys. It gets crowded around eight in the morning when everyone wants bread and eggs at the same time. The floor gets a bit dusty from the street outside but we sweep it when we can. Sometimes the electricity goes out and we just sit there with the door open waiting for the fan to start again. We don't have those fancy scanners, just a notepad and a calculator that has seen better days. Customers come in, complain about the heat, grab their pulses or soap, and head out. We know which neighbor likes which brand of tea without them even asking. It’s just how things go here. The shelves are a bit cramped and sometimes things get misplaced behind the larger bags of flour. It’s a busy life but it keeps us going. Most days pass by in a blur of weighing out sugar and stacking biscuit packets. We just keep the shutters up and wait for the next person to walk in. Every evening, we do a quick count of the cash and then head home to do it all again tomorrow.