Jay Renuka Ayurveda Jadi Buti Bhandar

If you head down Gale Mandi Road in Begampura, you’ll find us tucked inside Swati Chambers. The name is a mouthful, Jay Renuka Ayurveda Jadi Buti Bhandar, but people in the neighborhood mostly just call us the herb shop. It’s a very busy area and the chambers can be a bit crowded with people coming and going. Our space is packed with bags of dried plants, roots, and all sorts of traditional things. It gets a bit dusty because of all the dry herbs, but that’s just how it is with this kind of work. We don't have any fancy displays or bright lights. It’s more about the wooden drawers and the old weighing scale we use for everything. The street outside is always noisy with traders and people moving goods. Being in Begampura means there is always something going on. Sometimes I sit on the small stool out front for a bit of air when it gets too hot inside. The walls are a bit faded, and they probably need a new coat of paint next year. We’ve got a lot of different things here, some for digestion and some for hair, just traditional stuff. I don't really use a computer much, mostly just keep my notes in a paper register. It’s the way my father did it and it works fine for me. People come from all over the city because they know we have the specific roots they can't find elsewhere. It’s a lot of manual work, lifting heavy sacks and sorting through tiny seeds every day.