Shree Balaji Furniture Works

Out here on the Naroli-Bhilad Main Road, things at Shree Balaji Furniture Works stay pretty constant. We are right on the road, so we see all the cars and trucks passing between the two towns. The shop is full of the smell of sawdust and wood polish, which I’ve grown to like over the years. We spend the day cutting wood, sanding down edges, and putting pieces together. It’s a messy job, and our clothes are usually covered in some kind of dust by lunchtime. We have a few benches set up and some of the finished chairs and tables sitting out where people can see them from the road. It’s not a fancy showroom with glass windows, just a big open space where we work. When it rains, the sound on the roof is so loud we can’t hear each other talk. We just keep our heads down and keep working. Sometimes people stop their cars because they saw something they liked while driving past. We don't have any big sales pitches. We just show them what we are making that day. It’s a simple way to make a living, out here on the main road. We’ve got a small corner for our tools and a place to sit when the work is done. It takes time to get the joints right, but we don't mind the slow pace of building things by hand.