At Bharat Bazar in Fremont, 44 different types of lentils line the shelves, from flame-colored masoor dal to pea-green moong dal. Yellow, red, pink and orange torans — garlands often used as Diwali decorations — dangle from the ceiling over an equally colorful rainbow of produce, from okra to eggplant. A soulful Bollywood pop song plays over the speakers, punctuated by the beeps of barcode scanners.
Hira Birla opened the Bay Area’s original Bharat Bazar in 1974 in the city of Santa Clara, making it the region’s oldest Indian grocery chain. Today, the local mini chain with stores in Fremont, Sunnyvale and Union City is primarily run by his sons, Rajan and Sandeep Birla.
Hira was just 19 years old when he and his brothers moved from Punjab, India, to Yuba City in the late 1950s. They started off working in agriculture before pooling their money to open a liquor store together…