Jai Gurudev Matel

Our shop is at 101 Madhav Plaza, which is near the Lal Bunglow landmark. It’s a pretty well-known spot in the area, so people don’t have much trouble finding us. We deal with metal products, and the space is mostly taken up by samples and stock. It’s a bit cramped in here because metal takes up so much room and it’s heavy to move. We spend our day talking to customers who need specific parts or materials for their own projects. Some are regulars who have been coming to us for years. We don't have any fancy displays; we just show people what we have in the back or in the catalogs. The noise from the street comes right into the plaza, so it’s never really quiet. We have a small desk where we do the billing and keep the ledgers. It’s all very old-school. We drink tea from the stall downstairs at least three times a day. Sometimes the delivery trucks have a hard time parking near the plaza because the road is narrow. We just make do with the space we have. It’s a practical business, and we don’t try to make it look like something it isn’t. We just want to make sure the customer gets the right metal for their job. It's a lot of lifting and measuring, and by the end of the day, our hands are usually pretty dirty. It is honest work and we like being right here in the middle of everything.