Fun Brick Field

If you walk past the primary school here in Rulia, you will find Fun Brick Field. We are right in the Daulatabad area of Murshidabad. It is a quiet place most of the time, except when the kids are out for their break. You can hear them shouting and playing from where we work in the field. Our days start very early, usually before the sun gets too hot to stand. Dealing with mud and clay is messy business. Your boots get heavy and there is always dirt under your fingernails. We have been in this spot for a good number of years now. The soil in this part of Murshidabad is okay for what we do. It is not a glamorous job. We watch the weather a lot because a sudden rain can really mess up the drying process. When the clouds get dark, everyone starts moving faster to cover the stacks with plastic. It is just us and a few workers from the village. We know everyone around here. Sometimes the teachers from the school stop by to say hello while they are heading home. We do not have a big website or a fancy sign out front. Just the kilns and the open space. People in the district know where to find us if they need bricks for a small house or a garden wall. We just try to get the firing right so the bricks come out solid. It is hard work, and my back usually aches by Friday, but seeing a finished stack feels alright.