Smart International [Mumbai]

Our place is at number 217 B inside the Sussec Industrial Estate. If you’ve ever been to Byculla East, you know it’s a lot of old industrial buildings and narrow lanes where trucks are always trying to back in. It gets pretty loud during the day with all the manufacturing and moving around that happens in this estate. Smart International is just one of many small units here. We deal with various things, and the office is usually filled with samples and piles of papers. It’s not the most organized looking place, but we know where everything is. The walls could probably use a new coat of paint, but we’re usually too busy to worry about that. Being in Mumbai, especially in an area like Byculla, means everything is fast and a bit cramped. We get our tea from the guy at the corner of the estate every morning. He knows how we like it. Most of our day is spent making calls or checking on shipments that are supposed to be going out. Sometimes the power goes out for a bit, and we just sit there and wait for it to come back on. It’s just how it is working in an old industrial area. We don’t try to be anything we aren’t. We just show up, get through the lists for the day, and go home when it’s done. It’s plain work, really, but it keeps us going day after day.