R. S. Rice Mills

If you drive down the Tarn Taran Road, you will see us sitting right across from the Gururdwara Tahla Sahib. R. S. Rice Mills is in a good spot because everyone uses the Gurudwara as a landmark to find their way here. We are out here near P.O. Gilwali, so it feels a bit more open and windy than the city center. The main thing we do is process the rice that comes in from the fields. It’s a very dusty job, and during the harvest season, it gets incredibly loud with all the heavy machinery running at once. We have big piles of paddy coming in on tractor-trolleys all day long. Sometimes the line of tractors stretches all the way down the road and the drivers get impatient. We try to move as fast as we can to get everyone unloaded and weighed. My father started this mill, and I’ve been hanging around these machines since I was a little boy. I know exactly which rattling sound means a belt is loose or a screen needs to be changed. We don't have a fancy corporate office with air conditioning or anything like that. We spend most of our time out on the dusty floor or in the yard checking the quality of the grain. The weather really affects what we do every day. If it rains, everything has to stop and we cover the piles. We just take it day by day. People around here know us as a place that gets the job done.