Sri Kanaka Mahalakshmi General Stores

Our store is right on Marvadi Temple Street in the One Town area of Vijayawada. It is a very old part of the city and the streets are quite narrow. We’ve been at D No 11-55-30 for a long time, and the building shows its age. Every morning starts early because the temple nearby brings a lot of people out before the sun is even fully up. We sell mostly general items that households need every day. My father used to run this place and now I take care of it with my sons. The shelves are packed with everything from incense sticks to big bags of tamarind. It gets very crowded during festival times and we barely have room to move behind the counter. The humidity in Vijayawada can be tough, especially in this part of town where the air doesn't move much. We have these old wooden drawers for the spices that have been here since the beginning. I know most of the families who live in the surrounding lanes by name. Sometimes we sit out front on a bench when it's quiet and watch the rickshaws go by. It’s not a modern shop with air conditioning or bright signs. It’s just a place where people can get what they need for their kitchen and have a quick word. We keep the books by hand and try to stay on top of the stock.