Pet Pooja Chinese Corner

Shop Number 3 in Shivari Chawl is a small space, nothing like those big restaurants you see in the city center. We are over in Kalyan East. Pet Pooja Chinese Corner is right opposite Dhanwantri Medical, so that’s the easiest way to find us if you’re walking through Kolsewadi. The kitchen is small but we make it work. Most of the time, you’ll hear the sound of the flame hitting the bottom of the wok. It’s a constant clinking of metal on metal. We handle a lot of parcels because people around here like to take their food home. In the evenings, the chawl gets quite lively with kids playing and people returning from work. We have a couple of stools if someone wants to eat right there, but it gets cramped quickly. The menu is written on a board, and we change things depending on what we got from the market that morning. It’s dusty out on the street sometimes, so we are always wiping down the counter. My brother handles the fryers and I take the orders. We don't have any fancy uniforms or anything, just our regular clothes and aprons. It’s a simple life running a business in Thane. We stay open until the last customer leaves, which is usually quite late at night. The lights from the medical shop across the street stay on too. It is just our daily routine here in the neighborhood.