Chavan Tin Factory

Working out of Shop No. 1 in B.I.T. Chawl No. 5 means you get used to the noise and the narrow lanes of Mandvi Koliwada. Our little tin factory has been sitting here on Madhavrao Rokade Street for years, right in the middle of all the daily bustle. Most days the sound of metal being cut and hammered fills the small space. We make basic things like storage boxes, tin containers, and sometimes custom sheets for roofs. The chawl is a busy place with many families and other small shops all mixed together, so there is always someone passing by the door or sticking their head in to say hello. We keep our metal sheets stacked against the walls to save room because the shop is quite small and cramped. It gets very hot inside when the afternoon sun hits the street, but we just keep the old fans going and get on with the welding and cutting. The floor is usually covered in small scraps of metal that we sweep up at the end of every day. People from the neighborhood know where to find us if they need a metal trunk fixed or a small piece of tin for a repair. We do not do any big advertising or anything like that, we just rely on being right here on the street where everyone walks. It is hard work on your hands and it is loud, but it is what we know how to do. Sometimes the street gets blocked with delivery trucks, but that is just part of life in this part of town.