CHHOTALAL M. MEHTA

Our place, CHHOTALAL M. MEHTA, is situated in the Central Tin Works Industrial Estate. We are up on the second floor in Galas 22 to 24. It’s right across from the City Retiwala Industrial Estate in Byculla East. The area is very industrial and there’s always the smell of grease and metal in the air. We have been here for a long time. The stairs leading up to the second floor are a bit steep and narrow. Inside, we have three galas joined together to give us enough room for all the equipment. It’s an old building, so you can see the history in the brickwork and the high ceilings. We don't have air conditioning, just some big fans that move the air around when it gets humid in Mumbai. Most of the people working here have been with us for decades. We know the machines better than we know our own cars. It’s a lot of manual work and we get our hands dirty every single day. Byculla is a busy part of town and getting trucks in and out of the estate can be a real headache sometimes. We don't have a website or do any fancy branding. Most of our clients just know where to find us. We keep a ledger for the accounts and use a landline for most calls. It’s a traditional way of doing things but it has worked for us through many years.