Steel Brick Field

Our brick field is out in Jogijhora Barabak, which is near the Ethelbari post office in Alipurduar. It’s a big open space where we make and dry the bricks. You can see the chimneys from a distance. It's a muddy place, especially when it rains. We all wear old boots. We’ve been operating here for a long time. The work depends a lot on the weather. If it's too wet, we can't fire the kilns properly. We have a small hut that serves as the office where we keep the records. Most of the people working here live nearby in the village. It’s hard, physical work. But it’s what we know. We don't have a fancy showroom. If you want to buy bricks, you just drive up the dirt path and talk to whoever is by the gate. We load the trucks by hand most of the time. The dust gets everywhere, even in our tea. It's a quiet area otherwise, away from the main town noise. We just focus on making good solid bricks that people can use for their houses. We don't have any big corporate goals. We just want to make enough to keep the place running and pay the workers. It’s a basic business. It's an important one for the local builders around here. We have some stray dogs that live around the kilns too and they keep us company.