Mohammad Ali Engineering Works

Our workshop is right on Chukkulur Road. You can usually tell where we are because of the bright flashes from the welding and the sound of metal hitting metal. It is a dusty spot, especially when the trucks drive by on the main road and kick up a cloud of grit. We have a lot of iron rods and heavy plates stacked up against the walls. The floor is black with grease and iron filings, and no matter how much we sweep, it always stays that way. We spend most of the day wearing heavy gloves and protective masks to keep the sparks away from our eyes. It gets very hot inside, so we usually have a few large fans blowing to keep the air moving. People bring us all sorts of things to fix, from broken gates to parts of tractors that have snapped. We don't have a computer or a fancy desk; we just mark our measurements with chalk directly on the metal. Every job is a bit different, and we have to figure out the best way to weld or bend the pieces to make them strong again. Sometimes the work is slow and we just sit outside on a bench for a bit to get some fresh air, but usually, there is a pile of things waiting to be repaired. It is hard work that leaves you tired at the end of the day, but there is something satisfying about finishing a solid piece of ironwork that will last a long time.