Kishan Rice Mill

Kishan Rice Mill sits right in the Ram Kossuth area, close to the Gurdaspur post office. If you are looking for us, you just head toward the Mohanpur police station and you will find the gates. The mill has been a part of this landscape for a long time. During the harvest, it is absolute chaos. There are tractor-trolleys lined up all the way down the dirt path. Everyone is in a hurry, but the machines can only go so fast. We spend our days covered in rice hulls. It gets into your clothes and your hair. My brother and I usually handle the scales while the workers manage the heavy bags. We don’t have a fancy website or anything. Most people just show up because their fathers and grandfathers came here too. The roof leaks a little when it pours, but we have patched it up many times over the years. You can hear the hum of the motors from quite a distance. It is a rhythmic sound that we have grown used to. Sometimes we sit on the porch of the mill and watch the birds come down to pick at the stray grains on the floor. It is just basic work, milling what comes in and sending it back out. It is a living, and it keeps us connected to the earth and the seasons here in Gurdaspur. We just keep our heads down and work.