Sringar Pailesh

Being in Lanka is like being in the middle of a permanent festival. Varanasi is already a crowded city, but this area near the university is always moving. Sringar Pailesh is our little shop here. We sell all sorts of things that people need for dressing up or just daily use. The shelves are packed with bottles and packets. It’s hard to keep everything in one place because the shop is quite narrow. I spend a lot of time rearranging the stock so people can see what we have. The 221005 zip code means we get a lot of students passing by between their classes. They usually want something small, like a bindi or some bangles. In the evenings, the street lights come on and the whole of Lanka gets even more crowded with food stalls and people walking. It gets a bit dusty with all the traffic, so I’m always dusting the glass counters. We don't have a big team or anything, just us making sure the customers find what they are looking for. Sometimes the monkeys from the trees nearby come down and we have to watch out for the items near the door. It is just the way things are here in Varanasi. The shop isn't fancy, but it serves the people who live and study around here. We’ve been here for a good while and the walls tell the story of many seasons in this ancient city.