Painter Bhilare

If you are traveling on the Pune-Satara Road, you will find Painter Bhilare. We are right on the main road, not far from the Kalubai Mandir. It is a very busy stretch of road with trucks and buses zooming by all day long. The noise is constant, but you get used to it after a while. I have my small office and storage area here. Most of my work is out on the field, painting houses or small commercial buildings along this highway. I started doing this because I liked working outdoors, though the dust from the road can be a bit much sometimes. Near the Kalubai Mandir, it gets especially crowded on festival days. We usually take those days off because it is impossible to move around with our ladders and paint buckets. My crew is just a couple of local guys who know their way around a brush. We don't use any high-tech gadgets. We just use good old brushes and rollers. Sometimes we have to climb pretty high, which can be scary if the wind is blowing. We just focus on the wall in front of us. When the job is done, we pack up our stuff and wait for the next person to call. It is a straightforward way to make a living. We have been here a long time and don't plan on moving.