Shivam Traders

Shivam Traders is located right on Dashashwamedh Ghat Road. If you know Varanasi, you know how tight and busy the lanes of Bangali Tola can be. Our shop is at D-18/1, which is a stone's throw from Jyoti Cafe. It’s a very lively area to work in. Every morning, we open up the shutters and watch the pilgrims and locals heading down toward the river. There’s always the smell of incense and street food in the air. The shop itself is small and packed with all sorts of things. It’s not the kind of place with air conditioning or fancy lighting. We use old wooden counters and keep our notes in physical registers most of the time. It’s a bit traditional, I suppose, but that’s just how things are done in this part of the city. We have a lot of regular people who stop by just to say hello or have a quick glass of water. We don't spend money on big advertisements or anything like that. Word of mouth is how most people find us. It gets very crowded during festival times, and sometimes it’s hard to even get to the door, but we wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. Being near the Ghat gives the whole day a different energy. It’s just us, doing our bit in the middle of all that history and noise.