Chief Machinery

Pandharpur is a busy place, especially around the village and post office area where we are set up. Chief Machinery is basically a large shed filled with all sorts of metal parts and engines. It smells like gear oil and old iron in here, which I’ve grown to like over the years. We spend a lot of our time fixing things that have broken down on the farms nearby. There is always someone coming in with a part that needs replacing or a machine that won’t start. I keep most of the tools on a pegboard, but they usually end up scattered across the workbench by noon. It’s not the cleanest place, but we know where everything is. The floor is concrete and has some oil stains that won't ever come out. My hands are usually stained black from the grease, even after I wash them. We don't have a big staff, just a couple of us who know how these machines work. Sometimes we have to order a specific part from the city and wait a few days for it to arrive by bus. Those days are a bit slower, so we sit on the bench outside and watch the traffic go by the post office. It's a living. We don't make a big deal out of things. We just fix what's broken and try to keep the local machines running as well as we can. It's the kind of work that keeps your mind busy.