Althaf Rice Corner

Althaf Rice Corner is tucked away in Reddicheruvupalli, which is part of the Palagalapalli area in Gorantla. We are at house number 87, and if you come by, you’ll see we keep several different kinds of rice in big open bags so people can see what they are getting before they buy. This isn't a supermarket; it’s just a small corner shop where we serve the local village. We get our rice from the nearby mills and try to have a few different price points for the families around here. The floor is concrete and we have a heavy old scale that we use to weigh everything out into plastic bags for the customers. Sometimes the monkeys from the trees nearby try to get into the grain, so we have to keep a watchful eye out and shoo them away. Life in Gorantla is pretty slow, and we spend a lot of time just chatting with the neighbors who stop in to buy a few kilos for their dinner or a bag of salt. We don't have a computer or any fancy scanners. We just use a pencil and a notebook to keep track of what we owe and what we’ve sold during the day. The walls could use a fresh coat of paint, and the lightbulbs flicker sometimes when the power is weak, but it’s a steady business. We aren't trying to expand or become a big chain; we just want to keep the shop running like it always has.