My first interview
with A chandni chowk shopkeeper
We entered the dingy streets of khari baoli in chandni chowk
for our assignment and started asking shopkeepers if they didn’t mind answering
some of our questions.
I first went to a shop in the beginning of the market and
asked a man dressed in a kurta pajama, “if you don’t mind can you answer some
of my questions?” since I was taking the one talking to the shopkeepers.
He asked us “what are the questions related to? And where
you from?”
I answered and explained saying that, “we pointing towards
my group are students from Pearl academy, Naraina and are given an assignment
on certain parts of chandni chowk and we have to find our as much as we can
about the places we were assigned or the ones that we had chosen”
He said “ please go ahead, I’ll answer any questions you
have”
I asked him “is this business ancestral?”
He said, “yes, it is ancestral and the business was started
by his forefathers”
I asked him “ do u specialize in selling only dry fruits and
spices or something else as well?”
He answered saying “Besides dry fruits and spices, we also
specialize in sniffing tobacco”
I was shocked to hear that people dealing in tobacco in
chandni chowk
I said “ tobacco?? how many brands do u have?”
He answered smiling to my reaction “ there are only a few
brands and people buy them according to their preferences”
I then asked, “Do you keep flavored tobacco as well?
He explained, “ there is no such thin as flavored tobacco
but there are fragrances
Added to the tobacco to make it smelling good and sometimes
even flavorful”
I then asked “How many types of fragrances”
He said, “around 22-23”
I asked, “What is the highest selling brand?”
He said, “Like a smoker, everybody sticks to their own
brand”
I asked after that “Do you import/export?”
He said, “We export
but only through export houses”
I asked, “Are there any other delers in tobacco as well in
chandni chowk?
To that question he got a little offended and said “ I am
the only seller of tobacco in the entire Delhi”
I asked, “Where does all this material come from, any
specific state?”
He said’ “It comes from all over India”
I asked, “Do u have any branches?”
He answered, “No this is the only shop”
We ran out of time when customers started coming in to his
shop but thanked him for his time and left.
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