Karthikeyan Wood Works

If you head down Madukarai Road to the Kurumbalayam Pirivu area, you’ll hear us before you see us. Karthikeyan Wood Works is usually full of the sound of saws and sanding machines. The air is always thick with sawdust, no matter how much we sweep the floor. We work out of a shed-like structure that stays cool enough because of the high ceiling. There are piles of timber stacked up against the back wall, mostly stuff we’ve had for a while. We spend our days measuring twice and cutting once, though sometimes we still mess up a piece of wood and have to start over. It’s physical work and our hands are full of calluses and the occasional splinter. We don’t have a showroom or anything like that; people just come to the workshop and show us what they need. We have a workbench that’s been used for so many years it’s got grooves worn into the top. Kurumbalayam Pirivu is a busy junction, so there’s always something happening outside, but we stay focused on the wood. We don’t use any computer-controlled machines, just the old-fashioned way with manual tools and some basic power saws. It’s a bit chaotic with all the wood chips flying around, but we know where everything is. By the time we shut the doors in the evening, we are usually covered in dust from head to toe and ready for a wash.