Mia Dastkaar Zariwale

I've been coming here to F 4 in Sector 11 every morning for quite some time now. Opening up Mia Dastkaar Zariwale always feels the same, honestly. The air is a bit dusty when you first pull the shutters up, but that’s just how it is around here. We deal with zari work mostly. You see the threads and the small pieces of fabric everywhere on the floor by noon. It isn't a fancy place with air conditioning or those big glass windows you see in the city malls. It’s just a workspace. My hands are usually stained with a bit of color or I’m picking bits of thread off my shirt. People from the neighborhood stop by, sometimes just to talk or ask about a pattern they saw. We sit on the benches, maybe have some tea from the stall nearby. Sector 11 gets busy around midday, and you can hear the bikes zooming past outside. Most days are long. We start early and stay late if there's a lot to finish. The light in the back of the shop isn't the best, so we do the fine work near the front. It’s not about being the biggest shop or anything like that. We just do the work that comes our way. Sometimes the zari catches the light and looks nice, other times it’s just another day of stitching and sitting. It gets hot in the afternoons but we have a small fan that works okay.