The shine don’t rub off on to their lives

CHENNAI: The stacked up utensils in our kitchens have ‘settled well in their lives’. They were born and groomed in not those cozy or clean homes. They were burned, beaten and thrashed in dingy factories for deserving this comfort now. However, unlike them, their makers should continue in the factories as every year thousands of utensils must graduate.

One such cottage industry producing aluminium utensils is located at Pattalam in Chennai. The men in the dingy rooms look like they are as much a part of the room as the windows or the dull walls which lost its paint to the hazardous work conditions here. The men keep the work going. Even with unemployment reportedly at an all time high, the jobs for this century-old business have few takers.  Hazarduos work environment, strenuous activities and unhygienic surroundings are a few reasons why.