ARCHITECTURAL DRAUGHTSMAN

I run this small setup out of Sai Magan Society in Vile Parle East. It’s on Nanda Patkar Road, which is a fairly quiet street for Mumbai. The office is in room 512. Most of the time, I’m just here at my desk with my drafting tools and a computer. I focus mostly on the technical side of things—the actual drawings that the builders need. Being an architectural draughtsman means I spend hours looking at lines and numbers. It’s not very exciting to watch, but it’s what needs to happen to get anything built. The room is small and usually filled with the smell of ammonia from the old print machine or just the dust from the street. I’ve lived in Mumbai my whole life, so I’m used to the pace here. Clients come by, we look at the blueprints together, and they tell me what needs to change. It’s a simple process. I don't have a big staff or a fancy lobby. If you come to see me, you’re coming to my workspace. There are piles of paper and reference books everywhere. Sometimes it takes me a minute to find the right file, but I always do. It’s just me doing the work I know how to do, day after day. It’s steady, quiet, and keeps me busy.