Padmavathi Granites

Our place is right over by the Janopally bus stop in Marthur. If you’re standing at the stop, you can usually hear the sound of the machines running from our yard at Survey No 254/4. It’s not a quiet business. There is always water running to keep the blades cool while we’re cutting through the granite blocks. The ground stays pretty wet and muddy most of the time because of that. We have stacks of slabs leaning against the walls, and we try to keep them sorted by color, but sometimes things get mixed up when we're busy. The sun hits the yard pretty hard in the afternoons, so we have a small shaded area where the workers take their breaks and eat their lunch. It’s a local operation. We know the bus drivers who go past every hour. The office is just a simple room with a desk and some old chairs. We spend a lot of time on the phone talking to drivers and making sure the granite gets to the right site. Sometimes the trucks get stuck in the narrow parts of the road near Eshwadarshi, which is always a headache to deal with. We just take it day by day. It’s hard work, and your hands get rough from handling the stone all the time, but it’s what we do here in Marthur.