Shakeer Stones

Our place is over in Betamcherla, right near the Anuradha Talkies. If you know the cinema, you can find us at house number 3-169/B without much trouble. It is a noisy area, especially when a big movie is playing and the crowds are out. We spend our hours working with stones, which is what this town is known for anyway. The yard is usually full of slabs and the sound of the cutting tools is constant from morning until the sun goes down. Most of us grew up around here, so we are used to the white dust that settles on the trees and the rooftops. It gets into your clothes and you can never really wash it all out. We don't really have a big staff, just a few local guys who know how to handle the heavy lifting. We sit out front when it is quiet and watch the traffic go by toward the talkies. Some days the stone comes in from the quarries looking one way, and by the time we are done, it looks completely different. It is honest work, even if it is back-breaking some afternoons when the heat is sitting heavy over the yard. We just keep the gates open and handle whatever comes through. Sometimes a neighbor stops by to borrow a tool or just to chat about the local news while we are loading up a customer's tractor for a delivery down the road.