M B Steel & Hardware

Dharavi is always moving, and M B Steel & Hardware is right in the middle of it on the main road. Our shop is in the Rajdhani Complex, number 404. It’s a busy spot with trucks and carts going past all day long. The air usually smells like dust and metal because of all the hardware we have stacked around. We spend most of our time moving heavy things, and honestly, our clothes usually have some grease or rust on them by lunch. It's not a clean office job. We have stacks of pipes and bits of steel everywhere, and sometimes it feels like the walls are closing in because there’s so much stock. The Rajdhani Complex has a lot of other businesses too, so there’s a lot of shouting and noise throughout the day. We don't have a big fancy sign or a reception area. People just walk in, ask for what they need, and we go find it in the piles. It gets very loud when the traffic picks up on Dharavi Main Road, and sometimes it's hard to hear the phone ringing. We drink a lot of tea to keep the energy up. It's a lot of physical work, loading and unloading, but that's just how it goes here. We've been at this location for years, and we know the other shop owners on this stretch. It's a tough place but it's home for the business and we just get on with it.