Business after a deep cut

The small office,spread over 800 square feet,has tiny cubicles,each with bright tube-lit table lamps under which workers sit peering at diamonds. The sparklers are placed on velvet trays and are scrutinised endlessly by workers holding magnifying glasses.

The Shahs have been in the diamond trading business for the last three generations. Shahs grandfather started with a small jewellery shop at Kala Ghoda in Mumbai,after which his father shifted to Surat to set up a diamond manufacturing unit in the citys industrial area of Varachha. The family bought their office in Opera House about 15 years ago.

Its 11 a.m. now and business gathers pace. Thats when the brokers start coming in. Shahs firm buys and sells diamonds through brokers. He takes us through the different rungs in the trade. One usually starts off as a broker. The broker usually does not have an office nor does he manufacture diamonds. Next comes the small trader who manufactures diamonds,but does not have an office of his own. A diamond merchant is someone who has a manufacturing unit and an office. Shah calls his business a medium-sized diamond manufacturing firm.

We acquire raw material from Antwerp; treat,cut and polish them at our factory in Surat; and assort the polished stones here in Mumbai, he says,explaining his trade. Assortment,in simple terms,means grouping similar looking diamonds so that they can be used to make a particular piece of jewellery. But we are only into wholesale trade of loose diamonds,we dont make jewellery.

Shah knows his business well. He always knew he had to be a diamond merchant,take over from his father some day. Soon after his class X,he started training in diamond cutting and polishing,though he later went on to do his BCom degree from Hinduja College. We learn on the job over a period of four-five years. It is a difficult process. Now,however,I have moved to sales. Last year,I did my MBA from SP Jain Institute in Andheri, he says.

Shah is busiest between noon and 6 p.m.,when most of the trading takes place. His employees scurry in and out of his cabin,bringing trays laden with sparklers and colourful beads. Dealers and brokers visiting him are offered tea and coffee in shot glasses. We keep moving to different offices within the market and end up drinking seven to eight cups of tea everyday. So all of us serve tea in shot glasses, he says.

No one speaks about the blasts,its just business they have time for. These six hours are marked by continuous phone calls,mostly to Shahs partner in Surat.

After 6 p.m.,as work eases a bit,Shah steps out into Khau Gulley to eat a plate of sev-puri. He talks about his interest in landscape photography and his newest acquisition,a high-end digital SLR camera. Shah has also shot pictures of his diamonds for his products brochure and is currently finalising a video for a recently launched brand of beaded jewellery.

At 7 p.m.,Shah gets a call from his wife,asking when he is likely to get home. I usually walk back home. It hardly takes 20 minutes to my home in Kemps Corner, he says.

He will soon have to travel moreBKC is a good 15 km awaybut Shah says thats a small price to pay for safety. He is now actively persuading other traders to shift the entire diamond market to the nine towers at BKC. Security comes at a price and people are slowly realising that. After the blasts,traders who were reluctant to shift to BKC are coming round, he says.