We are often defined by our work; indeed the work we chose to do is often an extension of our personalities and our roots, but often it’s merely an accident of chance and circumstance. Regardless, society often associates us with our work and it can often find its way even into our names — the Paanwalas, the Botalwalas, the Daruwalas, and the Gheewalas are a testament to that.

Here, we look closely at the interaction between labourers and their environment in the hidden corners and streets of Hyderabad; the workers who keep the city running like clockwork but who are often forgotten; the labourers who work hard from dusk to dawn and without whom society would come to a standstill.

From the baker who toils hard and perfects his craft to the bangle maker at Choori Bazaar who deftly shapes and decorates glass, each picture captures the people they are and the story they have to tell: where they are, where they’ve been and where they want to go.

Photographs by Mohammad Ali
Text and captions by Images on Sunday staff

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, May 22nd, 2016