Natraj Steel Craft

Natraj Steel Craft is right on Station Road in Tatanagar, so we hear the trains whistling and the tracks rumbling all day long. It’s a noisy place to work, mostly because of the grinding and the metal hitting the floor. We work with steel, so there are always sparks flying somewhere and the smell of burning metal is pretty constant. Our shop isn't much to look at; it’s a big open space with tools hanging on the walls and pieces of scrap metal piled in the corners. We spend the day welding and cutting, which makes it pretty hot, especially during the summer months when the air just stays still. Our faces usually get a bit dusty from the grinding wheels and our hands are never really clean. We don't have a front desk or anything like that; people usually just walk in through the big metal gates and shout to get our attention over the noise. We eat our tiffin together in a small corner where it’s a bit cleaner, usually talking about what’s happening in the neighborhood. Tatanagar is a town built on steel, so it feels right that we’re doing this kind of work here. The floor is stained with oil and there’s metal shavings everywhere that we have to sweep up every single evening. It’s hard work on the hands and the knees, but it’s what we’ve been doing for years. We just focus on getting the shapes right and making sure everything is solid.