Ambili Engineering Works

Ambili Engineering Works is based in the Major Industrial Estate over in Ollur. If you know the area, you know it is full of workshops and small factories. Our place is usually filled with the sound of grinding metal and the hum of the machines we use for our daily jobs. It is a gritty environment, and most of us go home with grease on our clothes and dirt under our fingernails. That is just the nature of engineering work. We do not have a fancy showroom or a reception desk; you just walk in and you are right there where the work happens. The roof is made of corrugated sheets, so when it rains—which it does a lot here in Kerala—the sound is absolutely deafening. We have to shout to be heard over the downpour. We take our breaks together, sitting on whatever stools or crates are available, usually talking about the work or what is going on in the neighborhood. It is a practical business. We take in the orders, do the welding or the machining, and get them out the door as fast as we can. Some of the equipment we use is older than the younger guys working here, but it still runs fine if you know how to handle it. There is not any corporate talk here, just plain English and a lot of focus on the metal in front of us. It is a steady job in a busy zone.