Sri Balaji Rice Traders

Our place is located on Seppings Road in Shivaji Nagar. It’s right across from the Mutyalamma and Rama Temple, so we hear the temple bells throughout the day. We deal with rice mostly. There are big jute bags stacked up everywhere you look inside. When you walk in, you can smell that dry, earthy scent of different grains. We spend a lot of time weighing out portions and tying up bags for people. It’s a dusty job, honestly. My hands are usually covered in a fine white powder by midday. We've seen the neighborhood change over the years, but the temple stays the same and so do we. Some days are really hectic when the new shipments arrive from the mills. We have to clear space and move the old stock to the front. It's heavy work. We don't have fancy office chairs, just a small desk and a calculator that’s seen better days. Customers come in asking for specific types of rice for different meals. We show them what we have in the open samples. It’s not a supermarket experience. You talk to us directly. We close up when the sun goes down. Sometimes the traffic on Seppings Road is so loud we have to shout a bit to be heard. It’s just how things go here. We keep the floor swept as much as we can, but rice has a way of getting into every corner. It is a long day but we like the routine.