Swastik Gud Nirman

You’ll find us on the main road in Sihora Bohani. This is in the Gadarwara taluka of the Narsinghpur district. We make gud here, which most people know as jaggery. It’s a traditional process and it takes a lot of patience. The big iron pots are usually simmering away, and the whole area smells like cooked sugar. We use the local sugarcane from the fields nearby. It’s a seasonal kind of job, so we are much busier at certain times of the year. The building is just a simple structure on the side of the road. We don't have any office staff or anything like that. Most of us are just busy with the actual making and cooling of the blocks. The floor is usually covered in some bits of cane or sugar, and it’s hard to keep it perfectly tidy. Travelers passing through on the main road often pull over to buy a few kilos. We don't have fancy packaging, just plain wraps to keep it clean. It’s hot work standing over the fires all day, but we’ve gotten used to it over the years. We just focus on getting the consistency right so the blocks set properly. It's a humble business run by people who live right here in the village. Sometimes the smoke from the fires gets a bit thick if the wind isn't blowing right. We also have to watch the weather closely.