Shyam Sunder Kariyana Store

Down here at Dandia Bazar, we run the Shyam Sunder Kariyana Store. It’s one of those places where the shelves are always packed pretty tight with bags of rice, pulses, and whatever else people need for their kitchens. Dandia Bazar is an old area, lots of history and lots of people walking by every single day. We open early because that’s when the morning rush starts. You see the same faces every week, neighbors stopping in for a bit of sugar or some oil they forgot to buy. It’s a lot of lifting heavy sacks and making sure the jars are full. Sometimes the floor gets a bit dusty from all the foot traffic, so we sweep it out when there’s a gap in the day. We don’t have any big signs or anything, just the shop and the stuff we sell. It’s hard work, standing on your feet all day, but it’s what we do. The smell of the spices gets into everything, which isn’t a bad thing really. We keep track of things in our old notebooks and try to keep everything organized, even when it gets hectic. It’s a simple life running a grocery store in this part of town. People know where we are if they need something. We just keep the doors open and keep the stock coming in so nobody goes home empty-handed.