Sri Jaiswal Stores

Sri Jaiswal Stores has been a fixture on the Main Road in Jagatganj for quite some time now. Being in Varanasi, you get used to the constant flow of people and the sound of horns outside the door. Our shop is just a plain room filled with shelves from floor to ceiling. We sell a bit of everything that a household might run out of. I usually spend my time sitting on a small wooden stool near the entrance. The morning starts with sweeping the front step because the dust from Jagat Ganj is never-ending. People come in asking for things we might have tucked away in the back, and sometimes it takes a minute to find exactly what they want. We have a lot of regular neighbors who stop by just to say hello while they pick up their tea or soap. It gets hot in the summer, and the stone floor stays cool for a while before the sun hits it. We don't have any fancy displays or bright lights. It is just a place where we keep the daily essentials. Sometimes the stock arrives late because of the traffic on the Main Road, but we just manage with what we have on the shelves. It’s a lot of manual work, lifting crates and marking prices by hand. Most of the time, it’s just me and one other person trying to keep the inventory sorted out.