Jariwala Dahyabhai & Co.

The shop is at 9-160-A on Khandwala Street, which is right in the Wadifalia area. This is one of those old parts of the city where the streets are narrow and the buildings are tall. We’ve been operating under the Jariwala Dahyabhai name for a long time now. Inside, it’s mostly shelves filled with thread and textile materials. The wooden floorboards creak every time a customer walks in, which lets us know someone is there even if we’re in the back room. We have a very old counter where we measure out the jari and the fabric. It’s got a lot of scratches from years of use. My grandfather used to sit in the same spot I do now. We don’t have any fancy lights, just the basic tubes that flicker a bit when the fridge in the back kicks on. The street outside is usually full of scooters and people walking to the market. Sometimes it’s hard to hear anything over the noise of the neighborhood. We keep a small shrine near the door and light some incense every morning before we open up. It’s a quiet kind of business most days. We talk to the regulars about their families and the local news while we wrap up their orders in newspapers. It’s the kind of place where things don't change much, and that’s how we like it. The walls are covered in old calendars and a few faded photos of the family.