Rajesh Murti Bhandar

You can find us out in Village Sikri, which is in the Nagar Tehsil. We are right on the main road, not too far from the Jhanjhar area. It’s a rural spot, so you see more tractors than cars passing by our front door. We have a big open space where we keep the large blocks of stone before they are carved into murtis. My name is Rajesh and I’ve lived in this village my whole life. My father taught me how to see the shape inside the stone. It’s hard work, especially when the sun is beating down on us in the middle of the day. We have a small shed for shade, but most of the heavy carving happens outside. The road can get quite dusty, and when the wind blows from the fields, it brings even more dirt. We don't have a fancy office or a secretary. Usually, if someone wants to talk to us, they just pull over their motorbike and walk right into the yard. We work on all kinds of statues, some big and some small. It takes weeks of chipping away to get the details right. We try to keep things simple and just focus on the task at hand. Sometimes the neighbors come by to sit and chat for a while. It’s a slow pace of life here in Sikri, but we stay busy enough with the work we have.