Jyoti Rice Mills

Running Jyoti Rice Mills on Phul Road in Bathinda is mostly about managing the heat and the noise. Bathinda gets incredibly hot in the summer months, and inside the mill, it feels even worse. We have some fans going, but they mostly just move the warm air around. Still, the work doesn't stop. We get a lot of trucks coming in from the surrounding farms, and Phul Road can get pretty jammed up when everyone is trying to unload at the same time. You learn to be patient with the drivers and the delays. The mill itself is an old-fashioned operation. We have the sorters and the polishers, and they make a rhythmic clanking sound that you stop noticing after the first hour. Most of the guys working here have calloused hands from grabbing the heavy jute bags all day. We don't have fancy computer systems to track everything; a lot of it is still written down in ledgers or just remembered. It’s a messy job, and you go home smelling like raw grain and sweat every single day. We don’t put on any acts for anyone. If you come by, you’ll see us in our work clothes, probably covered in some dust, just trying to get the day's quota finished. It’s just honest work in a tough environment, and we’ve been doing it this way for quite a while now.