This may seem easy but it takes a lot a time to make a sickle. First I’ve to flatten an iron bar by beating it with full force. Then inside an iron piece, I have to fit a steel inlay which also comes in a bar. This is possible only after heating up the iron, so I get a quintal of rasp from the dealer and work on it. They sell it to me for Rs. 110/kg whereas they get it just for Rs. 25/kg. Then I have to give it a crescent shape before moving to sharpen the bevel which is another chapter in itself. Both of my hands are battered with sparks from working on a grinding machine but I don’t compromise with the quality. Any laborer that walks in and places two pieces together is amazed by the similarity. This stock you see here, it took me 6-7 months to make it.

I have two kids, both girls. They are in private schools, an expensive choice but what’s the alternative. I’ve to manage all the expenses of this shop. We are five brothers. We still live in a house our father left us with, he died when I was eighteen. To move out, I’ll have to buy a plot somewhere, and that isn’t easy. It’s everyone’s dream to own a house one day. I’ll work hard as I can and make it a reality soon.

I have never touched drugs, I’m all about work. Your success depends on how you manage your time, I’m at the shop for 12 hours and the other half at home. In that time I manage an hour to pray to the almighty because he’s the one who sees you through all the troubles. I’m a Hindu but once we got into a serious problem and we prayed to Jesus. It was fixed, I realized his power then. That’s the reason I have all these pictures of him. He’s my savior.

Another problem I run into is the price of these sickles. We still sell a piece for 150-180 which isn’t enough for the effort that it takes. I’ve tried to raise the price several times but the shops around here start selling it cheaper to attract the customers. That’s the reason I want to move near the main road, where I can get more customers and the desired price for my labor.

Story by Gurdeep Dhaliwal

Punjabi translation by Satdeep Gill