Hemant Murti Kala Kendra

Our shop is number 5 on Street Number 2, right on the Main Road in Civil City. We are quite close to the Jain Market in Chander Nagar. It’s a good location because people are always passing by on their way to the market. We’ve been here for years, making murtis and statues. The shop is filled with various pieces in different stages of being finished. Some are just rough outlines in the stone, while others are nearly done. We spend most of our time covered in white dust from the carving. It gets everywhere—in our hair, on our clothes, and all over the floor. We use traditional tools for the most part. There’s no big machinery here, just hammers and chisels. It takes a lot of physical strength to move the stones around, but we’re used to it by now. The neighborhood is fairly loud, but we don't mind. We just focus on the work at hand. Sometimes people come in with a picture and ask if we can make something like it. We tell them we’ll try our best, but stone has its own mind sometimes. We aren't trying to grow into a big company. We just want to keep making our art and serving the people around Chander Nagar. It’s a decent life and we’re happy with the way things are. We usually have some tea around four and keep working until the sun goes down.