Siva Engineering Company

If you walk down Vijayalakshmi Street in Mahalingapuram, you’ll find us at number 16. It’s a busy little area, and Nungambakkam always feels like it’s moving too fast. Siva Engineering Company has been sitting right here for a long time, and we’ve seen the buildings around us change quite a bit. Our shop floor isn't the cleanest place you’ll ever see, but it’s an engineering spot, so there is always a bit of oil or metal shavings somewhere. We start early, usually before the heat really kicks in, and the sound of the machines starts up almost immediately. It’s a rhythmic noise that you stop noticing after the first hour. Most of us live nearby, so we just walk or bike in. There’s no big corporate hierarchy here; we just talk to each other across the room. If a machine breaks, we fix it ourselves. The walls could probably use a fresh coat of paint, and the calendar on the wall is usually a month behind because nobody remembers to flip it. We spend our days measuring things and cutting parts, making sure everything fits together like it’s supposed to. It’s hard work on your hands, and they are usually stained by the time five o’clock comes around. We aren't here to make things look pretty; we are just here to build what needs building.