Shyam Bricks

Out here in Village Indokhar, things stay pretty much the same day to day. We run this brick business right on the edge of the village. It’s mostly just open land around us, which is good because we need the space for the kilns and the raw materials. The soil around here is good for what we do, which is why the business started in this spot years ago. We don't have many neighbors, just the fields and the occasional cow wandering past. In the mornings, we get the fire going and the smoke starts to drift across the road. It’s a lot of waiting and then a lot of heavy lifting. We hire a few guys from the village to help out when things get busy, especially during the dry season when we can make more. We don't use any fancy computers to track things, just a big ledger book where I write down who took what and how much they paid. Sometimes people forget to pay on time, and I have to go find them, but that's just how it goes in a small place like Indokhar. The work is dirty and we all end the day covered in soot and red clay. It’s not the kind of job you do if you want to stay clean. We just focus on making the bricks and making sure they don't crack before they get to where they are going. We’ve been here a long time now.