Devi Metal Works

The shop is tucked away off Infantry Road in Shivaji Nagar, right near the Bowring Hospital Road. If you are looking for Devi Metal Works, just listen for the sound of hammers hitting steel. We have been in this spot for years and the walls are covered in soot and dust from all the cutting we do. It’s a small space for all the iron and sheets we keep stacked against the back wall. Vadodara can get really hot in the summer and the furnace makes it even warmer in here, so we usually have the big fans running all day long. We aren't the type to wear suits or sit at desks. Most of our time is spent measuring out pieces or bending frames until they look right. Sometimes the deliveries arrive late because the roads around Shivaji Nagar are so narrow and crowded, but we manage to get things moved inside eventually. There’s a tea stall just down the street where we go when the noise gets to be too much. We do all sorts of metal jobs, mostly just basic stuff that people need for their houses or small shops nearby. It’s a dusty life but it’s what we know how to do. The floor is never really clean, no matter how much we sweep it at the end of the day, but that is just how a metal workshop is supposed to be. We keep working until the sun goes down and then we lock up the heavy gates for the night.