Jai Bhavani Shuddh Shakahari

This part of Surat, over by Ved Road and the Pandol Industries, is always moving. There’s a lot of dust and a lot of trucks, so we decided to set up Jai Bhavani Shuddh Shakahari right here to feed the people working in the factories. It is a strictly vegetarian place, which is how we’ve always done it at home too. We aren't trying to be the most popular spot in the city, we just want to make sure the workers and locals have somewhere to sit for a few minutes and eat. The benches are simple and the plates are basic. We spend most of our day in the back, making sure the vegetables are fresh and the pots are clean. Surat gets really humid, so the fans are always running at full speed in our shop. It’s a plain space with no fancy art on the walls or anything like that. We think that if the food is hot and the place is decent, people will come. Most of our regulars are the guys from the nearby industrial units who come in during their lunch break. They don’t want a long speech or a big bill, just a plate of food. We’ve been at this for a while now, and we know most of the faces that walk through the door. It is a practical life, serving the community that keeps this area going every single day.