Thangavel Match Industries

Our place is at 291 Pandian Nagar, over on First Street in Thiruthangal. This is where we make the matches. It’s a traditional kind of business, and many of the people working here have families who have done this for a long time. The factory is usually filled with the smell of wood and the chemicals we use for the tips. It’s a very manual process in many ways. You’ll see people sorting the sticks or packing the boxes by hand. We have some older machines that still run well after all these years. It’s not a quiet place; there is a constant rhythm of the machinery clicking along. Thiruthangal is a small town, and everyone around here knows where our unit is. We don’t have any fancy offices or shiny signs. The building is just a sturdy place that keeps the rain off the stock. We worry a lot about the humidity because it messes with the match heads. When the sun is out, we are working hard to get the production done. It’s a very basic setup. We make the matches, box them up, and get them ready for the trucks. There isn't much more to it than that. We just focus on making sure every box has what it’s supposed to have inside. It’s honest work that keeps us busy from morning until late. Sometimes we sit outside in the shade during our breaks and just watch the street.