Dawar Footwear Ind.

You have to drive out toward Sikandra to find Dawar Footwear Ind. We are located right at the 12.5 kilometer mark on the Agra-Delhi Road. If you see the Bapu Asaram Ashram, you are pretty much there. It’s a bit out of the way compared to the city center, but it’s much easier for the big trucks to get in and out. The air is a bit different out here, a mix of highway dust and the open fields. We spend our days making footwear. The building is large and gets pretty hot under the sun. Most of our staff comes in from the nearby villages or the outskirts of Agra. We’ve got rows of machines and a lot of noise during the shift. It’s a routine that hasn't changed much over the years. We start early to beat the worst of the heat. There isn't much around us for food, so everyone brings their own tiffin. Sometimes we sit outside under the shade during the afternoon break. Being on the main road means we see a lot of people passing through, but mostly it's just us and the work. The floors are concrete and usually covered in bits of rubber or leather scraps. It’s not a place for fancy clothes or polished talk. We focus on the shoes and making sure everything is boxed up right before the transport arrives in the evening.