Raghavendra Bricks

Running Raghavendra Bricks out here on Sukalpeth Road in Sindhanur keeps us pretty busy from sunrise until it gets too dark to see the ground clearly. The soil around here is what makes everything possible, but it is hard work when the sun is beating down on the yard all afternoon. We spend a lot of time moving heavy loads from one side of the property to the other. It is a dusty job, and your clothes never really stay clean for more than ten minutes. The trucks come in early in the morning to pick up loads, and sometimes they get stuck if the ground is too soft after a bit of rain. We have to help dig them out with shovels and some old wooden planks we keep for that exact reason. People in Sindhanur know where we are because of the tall chimney and the smell of the fire when the kiln is going at full strength. It is not the kind of job where you sit at a desk. You are on your feet, checking the moisture in the clay or making sure the stacks are straight so they don't fall over in the wind. Sometimes the help doesn't show up, and then it is just a few of us doing twice the work, which makes for a very long day. But the bricks come out solid, and that is what matters at the end of the shift. We just keep stacking them up until the yard is full.