Inside A Delhi Basement Workshop

By Shatabdi Chakrabarti

A PHOTOGRAPHER has captured the intense conditions inside a South Delhi basement workshop

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The workshop is in Khirki village, an area in south Delhi in India

Khirki village, a small settlement area opposite a posh mall in South Delhi, India, is home to many local workshops and small scale industries.

And it was one such business that inspired photographer Sujay Reddy to document its workers.

To save money, many of the workers sleep on the floor of the basement overnight

Sujay explained: “I used to live in an apartment complex opposite a building where tailors used to stitch luggage bags in the basement.

"Since I would see them everyday, I decided to document their time spent in the basement."

When photographer Sujay Reddy visited the workshop there were seven tailors working there

When Sujay began shooting the business, there were seven tailors who were employed at the workshop stitching the leather luggage.

These men hailed from the state of Bihar and, like hundreds of other labourers and workers who come to big cities in search of work, they had left behind their homes and families due to the lack of jobs in their home towns.

The workers hailed from the state of Bihar and had come to Delhi in search of work

Sujay said: “Most of them had been in Delhi for at least four years when I met them. They would make about 7000-8000 INR (£85- £95) a month, depending on their work experience and the number of bags they produced.

Every year hundreds of labourers travel to the bigger cities to find employment

"They used to send the money back home and keep a little for their use in the city. And they would visit their home towns just once a year during some important festivals."

In order to save money, these men mostly live in the work space itself or rent a small room in the locality and share a common bathroom with others.

At times the men would work through the night stitching the leather luggage

These rented rooms didn’t have beds to sleep on and the men would keep their personal belongings inside the workshop for safe keeping.

Sujay explained: “The conditions were dire. They were not even provided with basic amenities like clean water at times. I once saw them bathing outdoors in the rain and even storing that rain water to be used later.

The workers earn around £90 a month and most send the money back to their families in Bihar

"They even slept on park benches and rooftops or under the tables in the work space.”

Sujay also captured the extensive hours worked by the tailors.

Photographer Sujay reported that conditions in the basement were often dire

He said: "The seven tailors in that small basement would spend the majority of their time stitching luggage bags. The orders would keep coming in and, depending on the demand, at times they even worked through the night.

Workers take a brief break from stitching the leather luggage

They leave their personal belongings there for safe keeping

"There were no proper precautions and safety measures and sometimes they received their payments much later. The only source of entertainment would be watching TV sitting outside shops in the area and chatting with each other.”