Balaji Rice Mills

Our mill is right on Barnala Road where the traffic never really stops. You can see the big gates from the main road and there is usually a line of vehicles waiting to get in. The ground is covered in a fine layer of rice dust that turns white in the sun. We have several large storage sheds for the sacks and they stay quite cool even when it’s boiling outside. The office is just a small room with a desk and some old chairs for the guests. We drink a lot of tea while we wait for the moisture tests on the grain. It’s a loud place when the motors are running and you have to shout to be heard over the noise of the fans. We have been operating here for a good number of years now. The trees near the fence have grown quite tall and they help block some of the noise from the highway. Every day is about the same routine of unloading and processing. We don't have any big corporate ideas about how to run things. We just do the work that needs doing and try to keep the machines in good repair. Sometimes the rain causes delays and we have to cover everything up with big plastic sheets. It’s a lot of manual work and our hands are always rough from handling the bags. That is just the way it is at the mill.