Siddiqi Brick Industry

We are based out in Village Kaganagla. It’s part of the Milak Tehsil, which is a fairly rural area. Most of the people around here are farmers or work in small trades like ours. We make bricks in the traditional way, using the earth from the fields nearby. It’s a seasonal business because we can’t do much when the monsoon rains start. During the dry months, the yard is full of workers stacking bricks and tending to the kilns. It’s a lot of dust and heat, but we’ve gotten used to it over many years. My family has lived in the Kaganagla area for a long time. We supply bricks to most of the villages around the Tehsil. We don't have a fancy office with air conditioning or computers. Our office is just a small brick room with a single fan and some plastic chairs. People come by on their tractors to pick up their orders. It’s a very straightforward and honest way of doing business. We don't promise anything we can't do. If the bricks aren't ready because of the weather, we tell you. We try to keep the prices fair for the local people. It’s not about getting rich, it’s just about keeping the industry going and providing for our families. There’s something very satisfying about seeing the smoke rise from the chimney on a cold morning. It means we are working and things are going okay.