Paresh P Parikh

Our place is tucked away in Bardan Gali. If you know the area, you know it’s right across from the big water tank. It’s not a very wide street, and when the carts are being loaded with sacks, it’s hard for two people to walk past each other. We’ve been here at number 4 Amodar for a while now. It’s a simple setup. We handle a lot of the trading and paperwork that comes with moving goods through this market. The office is usually filled with the smell of jute and old paper. We don’t really have a big sign or anything. People just know where we are because they’ve been coming here for decades. My desk is usually covered in receipts and little notes I write to myself so I don't forget which order goes where. The neighbors are all doing similar things, so we often share a tea or talk about how the prices are changing this week. It gets very busy in the middle of the day, then gets quiet once the sun starts to set and the shops start pulling down their shutters. We aren't trying to be the biggest operation in the lane, just trying to do our bit and keep the records straight. It’s a lot of manual work and counting, but it’s what we know. Often we stay late just to finish up the ledger work before the morning rush starts all over again.