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Extreme offices

With the mercury touching 40, we take a look at the hottest and coolest workplaces in Pune, where temperature is not just a number.

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We have all wished to swap workplaces with friends --- the IT guys, who have such a cool job; or your model friend has such a hot life. Well it’s time to get a lateral (and literal) perspective on the hot and cool quotient of jobs. This week dna went in search for the hottest and coolest jobs in Pune.

Don’t touch, it’s hot
At some point or another in our careers we all crib about our work. Sometimes it’s the salaries, sometimes the colleagues, and often times that darn AC which stopped working with the end of the Cold War. Temperature can have strange effects on many. With the mercury crossing the 400 C in April alone, it is not hard to imagine how cruel this summer is going to be. However, for those who work in a brick kiln this is a great season for work.

With only a month for monsoon to arrive they are rushing the business, trying to make as much hay as possible, as the sun shines. The process entails a lot of heat we’ve heard, and to find out the truth dna visited a traditional kiln at Dehu Gaon, on the outskirts of the city. The kiln, when not firing the bricks, measures around 400 C.

And once the firing starts, it is a different story altogether --- the mercury shoots up to 7000C, and oscillates till 15000C. As much dangerous as it sounds, the set up does not have that bad an effect on those work in these kilns. Wearing cotton clothes, a shirt and a knee length shorts, a worker told us that he is required to step out of the kiln once he is done laying the raw bricks in the fireplace. “The coal is lit only when no one is in the premises, to ensure safety,” he shared. But that doesn’t mean the job hasn’t left a mark on the labourers. Most of them have a reddish-brown tan, a permanent one.

While there are many jobs that entail working in a hot environment --- farming, gardening, chefs and cooks --- there are some that require playing with fire. Case in point, glass making. On the condition of anonymity, our source who makes glass artefacts, reveals that he uses a flame to shape the glass.

And the temperature that the flame burns on is between 500 to 7500C. What surprises us is, he wears no special gear while working.

From Pune to North Pole

Imagine you could ditch the sweltering heat, for some terribly cool climes, and all paid for. Well, this is the reality for the 21 staff members at Essel World Freeze. Leaving behind the 40 degrees C, they enter their workplace to a chilling -40 C. Divided into two zones, ice (Artic inspired) and snow (North Pole inspired), Freeze lives up to its name.

Accordingly, the staff is always covered with the right winter-y gear – warm jackets, gum boots and gloves. Jayant Subedar, a 20-something customer service representative, says the experience, however chilly it may be, is fun. “Who else can boast of such cool working conditions?,” he asks. His work apart from levelling the snow, is to be present in the snow and ice zones, with the customers, in an event they need help. While his work does mean he shuffles between freezing point and 100 C, Subedar’s senior, and the centre head at Essel World Freeze, Ranjeet Pillai, says that none of his staff are at any health risk for adequate measures are in place to keep the body warm.

As the mercury shoots up, so does the demand of ice. And taking care of this demand are several ice factories outside the city like the one we visited in Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation, Bhosari. Made using Ammonia compressing, the water which turns into ice is stored in a tank. The men who work there tell us that though the temperature of ice is sub-zero, the temperature of the compound remains at a cool 100 C.

While it’s a respite for summer, it gets quite cold in winter. However, the real danger lies in the ammonia, which when leaked, can pose dangerous health hazards. Also, exposure to very cold temperatures can cause cold stress, and at times, hypothermia (overcooling of the body).

1. Jayant Subhedar levels up snow at Essel World Freeze, at -4 degrees C.  



2. A craftsman melts glass at his workshop to turn it into a Ganesha idol. The process needs the flame to be as hot as 750 degrees C.



3. Workers at a traditional brick kiln lay raw bricks over the kiln slab. When fired, the kiln’s temperature ranges between 700 and 1500 degrees C.



4. Nikhil Ughade (R) and Jayant Subhedar (L) get ready to work. It is mandatory for them to wear warm gear at all times.



5. A worker pulling the ice at an ice factory in MIDC, Bhosari. The factory uses ammonia compressing to make ice.

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