Pooja Masala Store

If you walk through Govindpuri Extension 180/9, you will probably smell our shop before you even see it. We have bags of red chilies and turmeric sitting right near the entrance to attract customers. It is a small store, and almost every inch is packed with jars of spices and big sacks of lentils. We spend the whole day weighing out grams and kilos for the local ladies who come in for their daily cooking supplies. The air is always a bit spicy, which makes everyone sneeze now and then, especially when we are grinding the black pepper in the back. My wife and I run the place together since the kids moved out. We don't have a fancy billing system, just a small cash drawer and a pen to mark things down in our book. The shelves are made of old wood and they sag a bit under the weight of the heavy glass jars. We get our supplies from the big markets early in the morning and spend the rest of the time cleaning the stones out of the grain. It is a simple life, and we know most of the families in this part of Govindpuri. They come in not just for the masalas, but also to chat for a bit about the neighborhood news or the weather. We keep the doors open even when it is dusty outside just to let a little bit of the breeze inside the shop.