Mother Garments

Over here in Chenniyappa Colony, things stay pretty steady. Mother Garments is right on Dharapuram Road, so there’s always the sound of buses and trucks going past. Our door is at 475/2 and sometimes the dust from the road gets inside if we leave it open too long. It’s a bit of a walk from the main junction but people find us eventually. Inside, there’s usually a lot of noise from the stitching machines and the radio playing in the corner. We mostly stick to our own work and try to keep up with the orders that come in. The lights flicker sometimes when the big machines next door start up. It’s not a corporate office or anything like that, just a workspace with plenty of tables and rolls of fabric. The tea man comes around at eleven and four, which is usually the highlight of the day for everyone. We’ve got a small space for parking out front, but it’s always crowded with delivery bikes. It gets a bit cramped when a new shipment of cloth arrives and we have to stack it near the entrance. Most of us have been working together for a long time, so we don't need to talk much to know what needs doing next. It’s a simple setup at Chettipalayam and we like it that way. No one wears a tie or worries about looking fancy while they work.