Pandit General Store

You can find us in the Madina Complex in the Allochi Bagh area near Ram Bagh. We are quite close to the Second Mission School so we see many children and teachers during the day. In Srinagar it gets very cold in the winter and we have to keep a small heater behind the counter just to stay warm. The shop has a lot of general items like notebooks and pencils for the students and tea and biscuits for the families nearby. The complex is a bit older and we have our small space filled with everything from soap to light bulbs. We open up the shop when the mist is still on the ground and get the heater going. The road outside can get muddy when it rains or snows so we are always cleaning the floor from all the footprints. It is a quiet kind of place most of the time except when school lets out. Then it gets very loud for about half an hour with kids wanting sweets or small toys. We have been here for years and the shop is a bit cramped with all the boxes but we know exactly where the spices and the pulses are hidden. We drink a lot of Noon Chai during the day and talk to the neighbors who stop by. It is just a small local store where people can get what they need without any fuss.