Vidhi Agarbati

Our workshop is at C/1 in the Mangalam Estate, right on Naroda Road. You can usually smell us before you see us because of all the incense we make. The scent of sandalwood or jasmine hangs in the air all day long. We spend our hours mixing the powders and rolling the sticks. It’s a very hands-on process and our clothes often end up covered in fine dust. The estate is a busy place with a lot of small industries, but we have our own little corner here. We have racks and racks of sticks drying out in the air. It’s a simple operation with a few machines and a lot of manual work. We’ve been on Naroda Road for a good while now. The traffic outside is always loud, but inside it’s a bit more peaceful, focused on the rhythm of the work. We pack the finished sticks into boxes to be sent out to shops. Sometimes the heat makes the incense dry faster than we want, so we have to keep an eye on it. We aren't trying to be anything other than a local agarbati maker. Most of the people working here live nearby and have been with us for years. We just focus on getting the scents right and making sure the sticks burn evenly. It’s a modest business but it keeps us going. Every evening we count the bundles and get ready to start again tomorrow. It is hard work but it is our way.