National Food Store

People come and go all day here at Ajmeri Gate 67. We have been sitting at this spot in the Main Bazar near Delhi G P O for a good while now. It gets really crowded outside, especially in the afternoons when the sun is hitting the front of the shop. You can hear the rickshaws and people shouting outside all the time. Inside, it’s mostly just stacks of bags and shelves filled with whatever people need for their kitchens. National Food Store isn't a fancy place, just a regular shop where we keep things organized as much as we can. Some days the delivery trucks come late and we have to move stuff around in a hurry. My hands are usually dusty from handling the grain sacks or counting out items. We know most of the people who walk through that door. They live nearby or work in the bazaar and just need to pick up a few things on their way home. It’s a lot of work keeping everything stocked up. Sometimes the lights flicker when the power is acting up in the area, but we just keep going. It’s just how things are here in this part of Delhi. We open early and stay until the market starts to quiet down. There’s always something to do, like cleaning the floor or checking what’s running low on the back shelves. It’s a simple life running a place like this.