Shree Narayan Mithai

Bhagal is one of those places that is always crowded, and our shop, Shree Narayan Mithai, sits right at number 46266. You can hear the honking of the rickshaws all day long from our front door. A lot of our time is spent in the back preparing the day's sweets. Gulab jamun and various types of barfi are usually what we have ready. The recipe hasn't changed in years because that's what the locals expect from us. There isn't a big staff here, just a couple of us who know how to handle the heavy sugar bags and the hot stoves. The shop interior is quite simple with white tiles that we scrub down every night. No fancy decorations or big advertising budgets are used here. Most of our customers are people who live in the narrow lanes nearby or workers taking a break from their errands. It's rewarding when someone tells us the sweets remind them of their childhood. The rainy season is always a bit tough because the street outside gets muddy and business slows down, but the kitchen keeps running anyway. Savory mixtures and snacks in jars are also kept on the top shelf for people who don't want something sweet. It’s a modest way to live, but being part of the Bhagal community for a long time is important to us. Sometimes the milk delivery is late, which throws off our whole schedule, but we just make do with whatever happens that day.