Swami General Store

At number 12 on Ezhusempon Road in Kanjanur, you’ll see Swami General Store. It is a simple place with a blue door that we usually keep propped open with a brick. We sell all the small things that people realize they ran out of at the last minute. Things like batteries, pens, salt, and loose tea. The shop is quite dark inside because we don't have many windows, but we know where everything is even in the shadows. I’ve been working here since I was a teenager. The counter is worn down in the middle from all the years of sliding change across it. We get our supplies from a truck that comes by twice a week. If the truck is late, we just tell people to come back the next day. Kanjanur is a quiet place for the most part, except for the festival times. We keep some candy jars on the front ledge for the kids walking home from school. I usually spend my afternoons reading the paper or talking to the elders who sit on the bench outside. We don't have any big goals other than staying open and helping out the locals with their daily needs. It’s a small life but it suits us well enough. There’s no need for anything more complicated than a well-stocked shelf and a fair price for a kilo of dal.