“I came to Hyderabad from Jaipur in 2001. Since then, this furnace has been my daily routine. Every morning starts the same—cleaning the bench, checking the lac, getting the fire right. Lac doesn’t listen easily… you have to heat it slowly, patiently. If you rush, it won’t cooperate.

By the time the first customers walk into Laad Bazaar, my hands are already black with soot.

Over the years, I’ve understood people here. The way someone picks up a bangle tells you everything—whether it’s for a wedding or just timepass. In Hyderabad, bargaining is never straight. First they’ll ask where I’m from, then talk about the weather, then maybe ask the price. In Jaipur, it was simple. Here, it’s like a full conversation.

And people here… they have warmth. Even if they don’t buy, they don’t leave without a few kind words. Sometimes they come back just to ask, ‘Kaise ho miya?’ That matters when you’re sitting in this heat the whole day.

Summers are tough—45 degrees, furnace heat on top of that. But honestly, the difficult part is the slow hours. When there are no customers, I just sit and look at Charminar… and think about home.

My family is still in Rajasthan. For more than twenty years, I’ve been sending money back. One box of bangles at a time. I don’t want my children to sit like this in front of fire. I want them to sit in an office, under AC… clean hands, no burns.

Here, we all manage because of each other. If I need to go for namaz or eat, the pearl shop guy next to me will watch my stall. If his kid is unwell, we all contribute something. That’s one thing about Hyderabad—I may not be from here, but I was never treated like an outsider. In this bazaar, everyone looks out for each other.

Now people talk about GI tag, recognition, all that. It’s good… business improves a little. But at the end of the day, when I pack these bangles into boxes, it’s just me. My back pain, my hands burning… and this work.

Tomorrow morning, I’ll come again, light the furnace, and start from zero. Because in this work, one thing I’ve learned—if you are honest with your work, it will take care of you slowly. Maybe not immediately, but it will.”

• Mohammed Anif