Shri Ambika Silk Mills

Our place is in the basement at B -17 in the Surat Textile Market on Ring Road. Being in the basement means we don't get much sunlight, but it also stays a little cooler when the Surat sun is beating down outside. The Ring Road is always a mess of traffic and people, so once you get down into the market, it’s like a whole different world. Shri Ambika Silk Mills is packed with rolls of silk and other fabrics from floor to ceiling. It can be a bit of a maze in here if you don't know where everything is kept. We spend a lot of our time unrolling fabric for people to look at and then rolling it back up tight. It’s a lot of lifting and moving heavy bolts of cloth. We deal with wholesalers and shopkeepers who come in looking for specific patterns or textures. The lighting is a bit yellow, but it helps show off the shine of the silk. We have a small table where we cut the fabric and a tiny corner for some files and a phone. It’s a busy life in the textile market and there is always someone shouting or a cart being pushed past the door. We just stay focused on our stock and making sure we have enough of what people want. It’s a lot of manual work and long hours, but we’ve been here long enough to know the drill.