Jorawar Bricks

Out here in Village Khera, things move a bit differently than they do in the city. Our place, Jorawar Bricks, is right near Manji Sahab, which is the main landmark everyone uses to find us. Being in the Ludhiana district means we deal with the Punjab weather every day, and that really dictates how the work goes. When it rains, everything slows down, and we just have to wait it out. The dust is just part of the job when you’re working with bricks and earth all day. Most of us here grew up nearby, so we know the roads and the people. It’s a lot of physical labor, stacking and checking the kilns. We don't have a big office with air conditioning. Instead, we spend most of our time outside or in the sheds. The smell of burning coal and baked clay is something you get used to pretty quick. We just try to keep the trucks moving out to the construction sites on schedule. It's not a glamorous business, but houses need to be built, and someone has to make the bricks for them. Sometimes the equipment breaks down and we spend the whole afternoon fixing it. That’s just how it goes at a brick kiln in Post Khera. We keep it simple and focus on the day-to-day work without making a big fuss about it. We’re just normal people making bricks for local buildings. It is a tough job but someone has to do it.