Lakshmi Balaji Rice Mill

Lakshmi Balaji Rice Mill is right on Thekkalur Main Road, and you can usually hear us before you see us. The sound of the milling machines is a constant hum that you just get used to after a while. We are at number 52, and the yard is usually full of tractors and trucks carrying big sacks of raw paddy. There is always a fine layer of dust on everything, no matter how much we sweep, but that is just part of the job when you are working with grain. The heat inside the mill can be pretty intense, especially during the middle of the day when the sun hits the metal roof. We spend most of our time lifting heavy bags and making sure the grain is moving through the machines correctly. My hands are usually rough from handling the jute bags all day, and my clothes are always covered in a bit of chaff. We don't have a fancy office, just a small cabin with a desk where we handle the payments and the weight slips. Thekkalur is a busy area for this kind of work, and we see a lot of farmers from the surrounding fields coming in to drop off their harvests. It is physical, honest work that keeps us busy from dawn until we shut the gates in the evening. There is something satisfying about seeing the finished rice piled up and ready to go.