Manibala Bricks Industry

You’ll find us out at 1-214 on the Main Road in Pithapuram, East Godavari. It’s a long stretch of road and we’re right there where everyone passes by. The industry here is all about the red bricks. We have a large area where we dig the clay and set the bricks out to dry. It takes a lot of space and a lot of patience. If the weather doesn't cooperate, we’re in trouble. My father started this a long time ago and I just kept it going. We have families who have been working these fields with us for generations. It’s hard, back-breaking labor under the sun. We don't use a lot of fancy words to describe what we do. We just make bricks. We wake up early, before the heat gets too bad, and get to work. The trucks come in and out all day long, kicking up dust and making a lot of noise. Sometimes the traffic on the Main Road makes it hard for our drivers to turn out, but they manage. We have a small office where we keep the books, though mostly we're out in the yard. It's not a glamorous job. You go home every night tired and covered in dirt. But seeing the stacks of bricks ready to go makes it feel like we did something useful.