Uma Marble

Uma Marble is located right near the railway crossing in the GIDC Estate. You can hear the trains passing by all day long, which is something you eventually stop noticing after the first week. Our yard is filled with slabs of marble that we’ve brought in. Marble is incredibly heavy and tricky to move, so we spend a lot of time with the cranes and making sure everything is balanced. It’s a wet job too, because we use water when we're cutting or polishing the stone to keep the dust down. That means the floor is almost always damp and slippery. We wear heavy boots and try to stay dry, but it’s a losing battle most days. Being near the crossing makes it easy for people to find us, but the traffic can get backed up when the gates are down. We have a small shack that serves as an office, but it's mostly full of samples and old receipts. We don't really do the whole polished corporate thing. We just show people the stone we have and tell them what it costs. Most of our days are spent out in the open air, regardless of whether it’s burning hot or raining. It's a tough way to make a living, but there’s something about the natural stone that we like. We’ve been at this spot for years and the local guys know us by name. It's just simple work we do here.