Selvaraj Marbles

We’ve been here at Marudhupandi Road for a while now. Selvaraj Marbles isn't a fancy showroom with glass doors or air conditioning that makes you shiver when you walk in. It’s mostly just us, some heavy stone slabs, and a lot of dust that seems to get everywhere by noon. Velachery has changed so much since we first opened the gates here in Kamarajapuram. You used to see more open ground, but now it’s all buildings and traffic. Most days start with unloading trucks that come in early when the air is still a bit cool. We move the marbles around with the crane, and sometimes things get loud. People stop by looking for something for their kitchen or a small bathroom patch. We don’t have those glossy brochures you see in the big malls. We just show you what’s sitting in the yard. If it’s raining, the stone looks darker, so we usually tell people to come back when it’s dry to see the real color. My hands are usually rough from touching the edges of the granite all day long. It’s hard work, but it’s what we do. We share tea from the stall down the road around four o'clock. Usually, someone is complaining about the heat or the price of diesel. It’s just a normal shop trying to get the orders right and making sure the pieces don't crack while we load them onto the small tempos for delivery. It's a long day, but the stone is good.