Raj Engravers

Out here on Acharya Commercial Street in Noida, it gets pretty loud. We’re at number 132, and Raj Engravers has been the place for a while. The shop smells like metal and oil most of the time. We spend our days hunched over the engraving machines, making sure the letters are straight. It’s hard on the eyes after a few hours. We get people bringing in all sorts of stuff, from small brass plates to big trophies that need names put on them. The floor is usually covered in tiny metal shavings that we have to sweep up every evening. It’s not a glamorous job, but we like it well enough. The street outside is always packed with cars and people shouting, so we usually keep the radio on to drown it out. Our tools are old but they still do what they’re supposed to. We have a small table in the back where we sit and eat lunch. Sometimes a customer comes in while we're eating and we have to jump up and help them. It’s just part of being a small shop. The lighting isn't great, but we have some lamps right over the workbenches. We don't have a big sign out front, just the one over the door that’s faded a bit from the sun. It’s just us here, doing the work.