Habeeb Tanning Company

Working out of No. 3 Jamalia Nagar is a bit different than the other spots around here. We are right on Perambur High Road, and you can hear the buses and horns all day long. This is Habeeb Tanning Company, and we’ve been handling leather in this space for quite some time now. The building is old and has a lot of character, though most people would just say it needs a coat of paint. We don’t mind. Inside, the focus is entirely on the hides. We have our routines that we follow every morning. It starts with checking the stock and then moving into the actual tanning. There is a lot of water involved, and the drains always have to be kept clear. It’s a physical job that leaves you tired by the end of the shift. We aren’t trying to be anything we aren’t. This is just a place where leather gets treated. The light comes in through the high windows and hits the dust motes. We drink our tea standing up usually. People know us in this part of town because we’ve been at this address for so long. It’s not a quiet place, but it’s where we belong. We keep the doors open mostly to let the air circulate. It’s a lot of manual labor, but it’s what we know how to do. The neighborhood has changed over the years but our yard stays mostly the same.