Mumtaj Kirana & General Stores

Mumtaj Kirana & General Stores is my family’s small business on the Main Road in Dondaparthy. Visakhapatnam is a busy place and this neighborhood always has something going on. Our shop is a typical kirana store filled with rows of jars containing snacks and candies. We keep the daily essentials like milk, eggs, and various types of dal in big containers. The humidity here can be a problem, so we have to make sure the lids are always tight on everything. My cousin and I take turns sitting at the front. The shop doesn't have a lot of space, so it feels very crowded when more than two people are inside at the same time. We don't have any bright neon signs or fancy displays. The paint on the walls is a bit old and there are some stains here and there, but it’s a clean place. Most of our customers come from the houses right behind the Main Road. They stop by on their way home from work to pick up things for dinner. We stay open quite late because that’s when people realize they ran out of cooking oil or salt. We don't use any computers for our daily work. We just remember the prices and use a small calculator. It’s a simple, busy life and we’ve been doing it this way for a long time.