Zat Pat Sweet Mart

I run Zat Pat Sweet Mart at Shop No A/10 in the Raza Complex. We are on Rajesh Shree Hall Road in the Bhatena area of Surat. The neighborhood is called Talavdi Sangrampura and it stays pretty lively. My day usually starts very early because making sweets takes a lot of time and everything needs to be ready before the first customers arrive. The air in the shop usually smells like sugar and ghee, which I’ve gotten used to over the years. We have these glass counters where I display the different sweets and snacks we’ve made. It’s not a big shop, so it gets quite cramped when we are busy preparing for a festival or a big order. Sometimes the floor gets a bit sticky despite my best efforts to keep it clean. People come in from the nearby hall or just locals walking home. I don't use any fancy machines, mostly just big pans and traditional ways of cooking. It’s hard work standing on my feet all day in front of the heat, but it’s what I know how to do. Some days are slow and I just sit on a stool watching the cars go by on the road outside. We don't have any colorful advertisements, just the name on the board out front and the trays of food for everyone to see.