Bal Shakti Dawakhana

Bal Shakti Dawakhana is just a small spot located at 53 New Moti Nagar Main Market. If you walk down the main strip where all the shops are, you’ll find us right there among the rest of the daily bustle. It gets pretty loud during the evenings when everyone is out buying their groceries and household stuff. The shop itself isn't much to look at, just a regular place with shelves and a counter where we sit most of the day. There is a tea stall nearby and the smell of ginger tea usually drifts in around four o’clock. The sign out front has been there for a while and the paint is a bit faded from the sun hitting it all afternoon. We spend a lot of time just watching the rickshaws go by and talking to the people who live in the apartments nearby. Moti Nagar is always moving, but at number 53, things feel a bit more settled. There’s a specific way the light hits the floorboards in the morning that I’ve grown used to. It’s dusty sometimes because of the construction work always happening somewhere down the road, but we keep things tidy enough. We don't have any fancy chairs or air conditioning that works perfectly, just a fan that clicks a bit. People know where we are because we’ve been at this address for long enough that the regulars don't even need to look at the number anymore.