Abi Gaarments

Down at No. 5 Poolakkadu Thottam, you’ll find our place, Abi Gaarments. We are located right off 15 Velampalayam Road in the Anuperpalayam Pudur area. It’s a pretty standard setup for this part of town, with a lot of small shops and workshops all around us. We have a row of sewing machines and a large table for cutting the cloth. The roof is made of tin, so when it rains, you can barely hear yourself think over the noise. It gets quite hot during the day, so we have a couple of big pedestal fans that just move the warm air around. We work on all sorts of garments, mostly stuff that gets sent out to the local markets. Our workers are mostly from the neighborhood, and we’ve known most of them for a long time. There is always a pile of waste fabric in the corner that we clear out once a week. We don't spend money on fancy signs or marketing; most people know where we are just by word of mouth. Sometimes we stay late to finish a batch if a truck is coming early the next morning. It’s just regular daily labor, making sure the stitching is straight and the sizes are right. We keep a small stove in the back to make tea, which is pretty much the center of our social life during the day. It’s a noisy, busy place, but it's ours.