Assistant Engineer

My office is at 103 United Avenue in Hussaini Baugh, which is right off M. A. Road in Byculla. If you know Mumbai, you know Byculla is an old-school kind of place. I work as an assistant engineer here. It’s an old building, and the stairs are a bit narrow, but once you’re inside, it’s a good space to work. I spend a lot of my time looking at blueprints and talking to contractors on the phone. The traffic outside on M. A. Road is always loud, but you get used to the honking after a few weeks. It’s a bit of a squeeze sometimes when we have too many files, but we make it work. I handle the smaller details of the engineering projects that come our way. It isn't the kind of place with a receptionist or fancy coffee machines. We just have a kettle and some files. I’ve been in this part of Mumbai for a long time, and I like being close to the action. Most of the people I work with are from around the neighborhood or the nearby suburbs. We don't have any big slogans. We just get the measurements right and make sure the materials are what they should be. It’s a lot of back-and-forth between the office and the sites. Some days are long, especially when the rains hit, but that’s just life here. We just keep at it, one project at a time, until the day is done.