Vardhman Foundry

Our foundry is right next to Jay Kishan Foundry here in Bapu Nagar. Rajkot is full of these kinds of places, and we’re just one of them doing our daily work with molten metal. It's a gritty environment, to be honest. There is always sand on the floor and that smell of hot iron in the air that never really goes away. We wake up early to get the furnaces started because they take forever to heat up properly. My clothes usually end up with a few small burn holes or just covered in soot by the end of the shift. We do a lot of casting work, mostly functional parts that go into machines other people build. It's not glamorous work. We spend a lot of time making molds and then waiting for things to cool down enough to handle. The neighborhood is loud with the sound of hammers and trucks coming and going. Sometimes we share tools or advice with the guys next door if someone’s machine breaks down. It’s a community of makers, really. We don't have a big marketing department or anything. It's just us at the shop, checking the molds and making sure the pour goes right. Some days the humidity makes the work twice as hard, but you just keep moving. We've got a small office where the paperwork piles up, but I'd rather be out on the floor with the guys. It’s where the real work happens, even if it is noisy.