Laxmi Ji Flour & Dal Mills

Down at Baleshwarghat in Balia, you will find Laxmi Ji Flour & Dal Mills. It is a noisy place because the machines are almost always running. We get a lot of grain coming in from the local farms, and my job is mostly making sure the grinders are doing what they are supposed to do. The air inside the mill is always a bit white from all the flour floating around, and by the end of the shift, it is all over my hair and clothes. Baleshwarghat is a nice area, being near the water and all, though it gets very crowded during the festival times. We have been operating out of this same spot for a long time, and the building shows its age with some cracks in the plaster and a heavy iron door that squeaks every time you move it. People bring their sacks of wheat or lentils on bicycles or small carts, and they usually wait around for us to finish the milling. There is no air conditioning or anything, just some big fans that mostly just move the warm air around. We talk over the sound of the motors, shouting mostly so we can be heard. Balia is a hardworking town, and this mill is just one small part of that. We don't try to be anything we aren't, just a place where you can get your grain turned into flour so you can go home and eat.