Khandelwal Traders

Bapu Bazar is always crowded from the morning until the sun goes down. You start the day early, sweeping the front of the shop at Nada Khada. Khandelwal Traders has been here long enough that the walls look a bit worn and the paint is peeling in some corners, but that is just how it is. People walk past all day long, some looking for things to buy and others just heading to their own work. Being a trader in this part of town means you know all the neighbors and the delivery guys by their first names. We handle the goods, stack them up in the back, and wait for the next person to come through the door. It is not like those fancy malls you see opening up now. It is just a regular place with some wooden shelves and a small desk. Sometimes the power goes out in the middle of the afternoon and we just sit there in the dark until it comes back on. The street noise is constant, mainly horns and people shouting at each other, but you get used to it after a while. Dealing with the stock takes up most of our time. We are always counting boxes and making sure everything is where it should be. Nada Khada has its own rhythm that never really changes. We open up, do the work, and go home when it gets dark. It is just a simple life of buying and selling stuff.