Shah Machine Tools

You can find us in the M K Compound, which is located on Feet Road in the Ari Mari area of Andheri East. This is a real industrial zone, so the whole day you hear the sound of machines and the banging of metal from the units nearby. Our unit is number 90. It’s a basic industrial shed with a high roof and a lot of grease on the floor. We deal with machine tools, so everything is heavy and made of iron or steel. There’s always a fine layer of dust over everything, no matter how much we try to sweep it away. We have a small mezzanine floor where we keep the paperwork and a couple of chairs that are covered in old towels to keep the grease off. The light comes in through the big front shutter, which we keep open all day for the breeze. It’s not a place for a meeting in a suit. People come here in their work clothes, looking for specific tools or parts for their workshops. There’s a tea stall just outside the compound gate where we go once or twice a day. The guys working here have been with us for a while, and we all just know what needs to be done without talking too much. It’s a gritty, noisy place, but it’s where the actual work gets done in this city.