Veneer King

If you head down Lane Number 7 in Ghatkopar East, you’ll find us in the Chheda Mall. It’s part of the Vallabh Society area. We spend most of our time surrounded by stacks of wood and different types of veneer sheets. Each one has a different pattern, and we spend a lot of time just moving them around so people can see the grain. The shop isn't huge, so we have to be careful not to knock things over. It smells like wood glue and sawdust most days. We usually have a few carpenters hanging around, looking for specific pieces for their projects. We’ve got a small area where we sit and talk about sizes and prices, usually over a glass of water. It’s a bit of a maze in here with all the vertical racks. Ghatkopar is a busy place, but our lane is slightly quieter than the main road, which is nice. We don't really do much advertising; people just seem to know we are here in the mall. We’ve seen the neighborhood change a lot over the years, but we’ve stayed right here in Vallabh Society. Sometimes the lights in the mall flicker, but we just keep working. It’s a lot of manual work, lifting those heavy sheets and making sure they don't get scratched or chipped during the process.