Amritsari Meat Wala

Being right by the Lajpat Nagar-1 Flyover Market means there’s never any peace and quiet around here. Amritsari Meat Wala is tucked into this spot where the traffic noise is constant. You get used to the sound of trucks gear-shifting overhead on the flyover. We get the meat delivered early, and it’s a lot of heavy lifting to get everything inside and stored. The floor is concrete and we wash it down several times a day. It’s honest work, but it’s tiring on the back. The knives need sharpening every morning, and that’s a job nobody really likes doing but it has to happen. We have a few big heavy pots that have been with us since we opened. They’re dented and black on the bottom, but they work better than the new ones. The air in here is thick with the smell of roasting and coal. In the winter, it’s nice and warm, but in the summer, we all sweat straight through our shirts. We don't have a big sign or anything flashy. People just know where we are because they see the smoke or hear us working. We don't talk much during the rush; we just keep our heads down and get the plates out. When we close up at night, the flyover is still busy, and we’re usually too tired to do anything but go home and sleep. That is our life at this market.