Farooq Provisional Store

Down in Shah Mohalla, which is part of the Nawa Bazar area in Srinagar, is where you'll find Farooq Provisional Store. It’s an old part of the city with narrow lanes and a lot of history. Our shop is just a small place where we stock the essentials. We spend our mornings checking the sacks of rice and making sure the jars of spices are closed tight against the damp air. Living and working in Srinagar means we have to deal with the changing seasons, which can be quite harsh. In the summer, the breeze from the river is nice, but in the winter, we have to wrap up in heavy woolens just to sit in the shop. We don't have many fancy gadgets here, just a simple counter and some old shelves. Most of our customers are our neighbors who have been coming to us for years. They come in to talk about the weather or local news while they wait for their flour to be weighed. Sometimes the deliveries are late because of the traffic in the old city, so we have to make do with what we have. It’s a slow and steady kind of life. We aren't trying to be the biggest store around, just a reliable place where people can get what they need for their dinner. The wooden floorboards creak a bit when you walk on them, but they’ve held up for a long time under all those heavy sacks.