Raja Singh Tala Workshop

This workshop has been sitting here in Kalyanpuri for a good number of years now. We are right across from 20 Block, and the Chand Cinema is a good landmark if you're trying to find the place. It's a small workshop, mostly filled with tools, metal bits, and keys. It smells like oil and iron in here most days. Raja Singh started this because he knew how to work with his hands. We spend most of the day fixing locks or cutting new keys for people who lost theirs. It’s dusty work and our hands are usually a bit dirty by noon. We don’t have a fancy waiting room. If you come by, you’ll probably see us bent over a workbench. The neighborhood knows us pretty well. Sometimes we have to go out to someone's house if they're locked out, but mostly we stay here at 20/211. It's a simple business. We don't use a lot of high-tech machinery, just the stuff that has worked for decades. When the movies let out at Chand Cinema, the street gets really crowded. We just keep our heads down and keep working on the latches and cylinders. It’s honest work and it keeps us busy from morning until we close up the shutters at night. There’s always a pile of scrap metal in the corner and a pot of tea on the small stove. We don't need much else to keep the shop running smoothly for everyone who needs a key.