Bharath General Stores

We have been sitting here at this spot on Main Road in One Town for a good many years now. Bharath General Stores isn't some big fancy supermarket with air conditioning or bright neon lights that hurt your eyes. It is just a regular shop where we keep the things people in Vijayawada actually need for their kitchens every day. You will find big sacks of rice stacked up near the entrance and different kinds of lentils in the plastic bins. We start our day quite early, usually around seven, to sweep the front and get the milk packets ready before the office rush begins. Sometimes the traffic outside gets really loud with all the horns and the rickshaws passing by, but we are used to it by now. My cousin helps me behind the counter most afternoons when it gets busy. We spend a lot of time just chatting with the regulars who have been coming here since they were kids. It’s a lot of work keeping track of the stock and making sure we don't run out of the popular soap brands or the specific spices people like for their cooking. We don't have a computer system, so everything is still written down in the big ledger books. The wooden shelves are a bit old and maybe need a new coat of paint, but they hold everything just fine. It’s just a normal life running a store like this in a place like One Town.