Usha Brick Field

Down in Village Jagannathpur, near the post office, that’s where our brick field is. It’s quite a large space out here in Harishchandrapur. Making bricks in a village like this means you’re always at the mercy of the weather. If it rains too much, the mud doesn’t set right and we lose a whole batch. We have a lot of local guys who come in to help with the molding and the firing. It’s a long process. You have to wait for the kilns to reach the right temperature and then wait even longer for them to cool down so we can get the bricks out. The air is always a bit smoky and the ground is never level. We don't have a fancy reception or anything. Most people just walk into the field and find whoever is working the kiln that day. It’s a lot of manual labor, digging the earth and mixing it up. Our hands are always stained orange or brown. We’ve been at this for some time now and it’s just the rhythm of our lives. The post office is a good landmark for people trying to find us since the roads out here don't always have names. It’s just a regular brick field doing what it’s supposed to do. We get the work done and hope the next season is dry. The post office is usually quiet in the afternoons. We just keep digging until it gets dark.