Mohan Ni Mithai

Our little place is tucked away at Shiv Niwas on Gamdevi Road in Surat. It isn't a huge shop, but it fits everything we need to get the job done. Most of the time, the air smells like sugar and cardamom. My family has been around this part of town for years, so we know a lot of the faces that walk through the door. We spend a lot of time in the back prep area making sure the batches are right. It’s hard work on the legs, standing all day, but it’s what we do. The floor is old tile and the walls could probably use a fresh coat of paint, but it feels like home to us. Gamdevi Road is usually crowded, especially in the evenings when everyone is out running errands. We see the same school kids and office workers every day. Sometimes we run out of things earlier than expected and have to tell people to come back tomorrow. It’s not a perfect system, but we manage. We aren't trying to be the biggest shop in Surat or anything like that. We just want to keep the doors open and the trays full. There’s a certain way we like to do things, the old way, without too many machines. It takes longer but feels better. If you’re walking past Shiv Niwas, you’ll probably see us there behind the glass counter just waiting on the next person to walk in.