Prakash Masala Bhandar

If you walk down near the Bank of Baroda, you’ll find us at Shop No. 5. We’re right across from the bank and near Vamasure. It’s a small shop, but we keep it pretty organized. Most days it’s just us behind the counter waiting on folks who need spices for their dinner or for their own small kitchens. We’ve been at this location for a good while. The smells in here are quite strong because of all the masalas, which I guess is expected. People usually find us just by walking past on their way to do their banking. We don’t have any big signs or flashy lights. It’s just the shop name and a door that’s usually open. We spend a lot of our time weighing things out and chatting with the regulars who live in the nearby blocks. It’s a quiet enough life, though the street gets crowded during the afternoon rush. We like being near the bank because it’s a landmark everyone knows. If someone asks where to find spices, their neighbors usually point them toward Shop No. 5. We don’t have a website or anything like that, we just handle things face to face. It’s better that way because you can see what you’re getting. We’ve stayed in this one spot because the community here is good to us. It’s just a plain old spice shop doing its thing every day. We aren't doing anything fancy, just selling what we have to the people who come by. We like it.