Gopal Metal Works

Gopal Metal Works is over in Jotshivram Pur, right in the Mahefala area. My father started this workshop a long time ago, and I grew up around the sound of hammers and the smell of welding. We do a lot of small metal jobs for the people in the village and the nearby farms. Sometimes it's fixing a broken gate, other times it's making small parts for machines that have stopped working. The floor is always covered in scraps and metal shavings, no matter how much we sweep it at the end of the day. It’s a small space, so we have to be very careful where we step. We have a couple of old machines that still work better than the newer ones I saw in the city shops last year. The power goes out sometimes in the afternoon heat, so we just sit outside on the bench and wait for it to come back. We don't really advertise our work; people just know where we are by word of mouth. If someone has a broken hinge or needs a iron frame made, they just walk in. I spend most of my day wearing heavy gloves and a dusty mask. It’s hot work, especially when the furnace is running. We try to get things done by the time we promised, but sometimes a job takes a bit longer if the metal is stubborn or the tools need sharpening. We aren't a big factory, just a local shop doing what we know how to do with our own hands.