Essen Aluminium

Our place is at M-42 in the Udyambag Industrial Estate. It's mostly aluminium work we do here. The shed is pretty big and we’ve got some heavy benches for cutting and shaping the metal. Udyambag is a busy spot with a lot of workshops, so there’s always the sound of grinding or hammers hitting something nearby. We keep a lot of scrap in the corner because you never know when a small piece might come in handy for a quick fix on a machine. My father started this and now I’m mostly running the day-to-day things with a couple of helpers. We don't have a website or any of that, just a sign on the gate that's starting to fade. It's dusty work, and your clothes get covered in those tiny metal shavings that never really come out in the wash. We drink a lot of chai to keep going, especially when there's a big order of frames or sections to get through before the weekend. The roof is corrugated metal, so when it rains, you can't hear yourself think inside. We just keep our heads down and get the orders ready. It's honest work and it keeps us busy from Monday to Saturday. Sometimes we stay late if a machine breaks down and we need to fix it for the next morning. It's just the way things go here.