Kunikar Mahesh Aluminium Idol Maker

My shop is located in Purana Pool, specifically at 20-1-622/54 in S V Nagar. I spend most of my days working with aluminium, making idols for people who come from all over Bahadurpura. It’s dusty work and my hands are usually covered in grey smudges by noon. The furnace gets really hot, especially in the summer, but you get used to it after a few years. We do everything by hand, so nothing looks exactly like a factory-made piece. Each idol has its own little quirks. The street outside is usually full of people and noise, which I barely notice anymore when I’m focused on a mould. People come in asking for specific gods or sizes, and I just tell them what’s possible. My father did this work before me, and I’ve stayed in this same spot because everyone knows this is where the metalwork happens. We don’t have a showroom or anything. Everything is just sitting on shelves or on the floor until someone picks it up. When the festivals get close, we are working late into the night under a single light bulb. It’s a lot of physical labor, lifting the heavy moulds and pouring the molten metal, but seeing a finished piece once it’s polished is alright. I don’t spend money on ads; the work usually speaks for itself when people see it in someone’s home or a small temple.