Apex Wood Carvers

It is usually pretty quiet down here in Gali Takhtiwali until we start the saws. Our shop at House Number 11/457 in Topia Sarai is not easy to miss because of all the wood stacked up outside. We spend most of the day covered in sawdust and shavings. It gets into your clothes and your hair, but you get used to it after a few years. We do a lot of wood carving by hand, sitting on low stools while the sun comes through the doorway. The lane is narrow, so getting big pieces of timber in can be a real headache sometimes. We have been in this part of the neighborhood for a long time now. People walk by and peek in to see what we are making. Sometimes it is a door frame, other times it is just small decorative bits for someone's house. The smell of cedar and teak is always hanging in the air. We use old chisels that have been sharpened so many times they are half their original size. It is not a big corporate operation, just a few of us working with our hands. We do not have a website or anything like that. People just know where we are. If the power goes out, which happens, we just keep working with the hand tools until the lights come back on. It is a simple life and it keeps us fed and busy through the week.