MANUSHA ARCHITECT

The office is over in Shukla Chawl in the Kokanipada area of Dahisar. If you know Mumbai, you know how these spaces are. It is a small setup tucked away where the neighbors are always close by and there is usually the sound of someone cooking or kids playing right outside the door. We have been here for a while now. Most of the work involves figuring out how to make the most of very small plots or fixing up old structures that have seen better days. It is not a shiny office with glass walls or anything like that. We have a couple of desks, some stools for guests, and plenty of pens that always seem to run out of ink at the wrong time. The monsoon season is always a bit of a worry because the dampness gets into everything, including the old blueprints we keep stacked in the corner. People from the neighborhood just drop by when they need a wall moved or a new shed built. We spend a lot of time walking to nearby sites because the traffic in Dahisar can be a bit of a headache during the day. It is a simple way of working. We take the measurements, sit down to draw, and try to make sure the building stands up straight and keeps the rain out. There is always a lot of chatter and not much quiet, but we like it that way.