Ashish General Store

Ashish General Store is located in Pandeypur, right near the Janki Mandir and the busy auto stand. You can hear the drivers calling out for passengers all day, which makes it a very lively spot. The shop is small and has a lot of items squeezed into every available inch of space. We have things like toothbrushes, matchboxes, and small packets of spices near the front counter. Towards the back, we keep the larger items like big bags of grain. Being near a temple means we also see a lot of people passing by on their way to pray. The dust from the road is a constant battle, and I find myself wiping down the counters several times a day. We don't have a big team or anything; it’s just a straightforward operation. I sit on a wooden stool behind the counter most of the day, waiting for the next person to walk in. Sometimes the auto stand gets so crowded that people find it hard to reach the shop entrance. We’ve been here in Varanasi for quite a while, and the building itself is an old one with thick walls. The ceiling is high, which helps a bit with the heat. We stock whatever the local families need for their daily cooking. It's nothing fancy, just a plain store with honest dealings. Most of the work involves just keeping the stock replenished and talking to the regulars who live nearby.