Deepak Masala

The smell of spices follows you home every day when you work at a place like this. We are located on Golabandha Road, right in the Mavi Asthan area. It’s not a very large operation, just a few of us working with the grinders and the raw materials. The dust from the chili and turmeric gets into everything, so we usually wear scarves over our faces. It’s hot work, especially in the summer months when the sun beats down on the roof. We spend most of our time cleaning the seeds and making sure the mix is right. My father started this years ago and not much has changed since then. We still use some of the old scales because they seem more honest than the digital ones. The neighbors sometimes complain about the sneezing when we grind the pepper, but they still come over to buy their supplies from us. We don’t do much advertising; people just walk in off the road because they know the quality is there. The floor is always a bit stained with different colors from the masalas, but that’s just part of the job. It’s a loud place when the machines are running, so we don't talk much until we take our break under the tree outside. It’s just honest work that fills the stomach and keeps us going. We like it here on this dusty road and we plan to stay for as long as we can.