Joseph Electroplater

Our shop is located in Sainath Niwas, which is part of Valani Colony in Malad West. It’s right by Raste Wada and pretty close to Mother Teresa School, so you can always hear the kids playing or the school bell ringing during the day. Electroplating is what we do here, mostly just dipping parts and watching the tanks to see how the metal takes. The floor is usually a bit wet and there is that sharp smell of the plating baths that you just get used to after a week or two. It’s a small place, not like those big factories you see on TV. We have a few big tanks and some racks hanging from the ceiling to dry things off. Most of the work comes from local workshops that need a bit of shine or protection on their small metal bits. Sometimes the traffic on the road outside gets so bad that the delivery trucks can't even pull up to the door. We just carry the stuff by hand then. My family has been around this area for a long time, so we know most of the neighbors. If the rain is heavy, the water sometimes creeps up to the doorstep, and we have to move the chemicals to higher ground. It’s a lot of manual labor, standing on your feet for eight or nine hours, but it pays the bills. We don't have a big office or fancy chairs. Just a wooden table where we keep the ledger.