Gupta General & Provisional Stores

We are located on Shivpur Road, near the Asthabhuji Mandi in Varanasi. This city is very old and our shop feels a bit like that too. It’s a provisional store, so we handle all the daily household needs. The mandi is nearby, so it’s always crowded with people buying vegetables. They stop here on their way back to pick up salt or oil. We have big metal tins full of grains. The smell of spices is always in the air here. It’s a narrow shop, but we’ve managed to fit a lot in. We have a small picture of the deity with a garland near the entrance. Every morning we start with a little prayer before opening the doors. The traffic on Shivpur Road is constant. You hear the bells of the temples and the horns of the cars all day long. We have many regular customers who have been coming to the Gupta family for years. We know their kids and what they usually buy every week. Sometimes we sit on the wooden bench outside when the sun goes down. It’s a very local way of living. We don't use fancy packaging. We just wrap things in paper or put them in bags. It’s simple and honest work. Varanasi is a busy place, but inside the shop, we just focus on one customer at a time. The counter is getting smooth from all the use and we keep it clean. Sometimes we share news about weddings in the neighborhood or which crops are fresh in the mandi today.