Sri Ramalingeswara Modern Rice Mill

Penuguduru is where we are located. It’s a place where you can see the fields and know exactly where the grain is coming from. Sri Ramalingeswara Modern Rice Mill is a noisy place once the hullers start running. The air is always thick with the smell of raw rice and a bit of dust. We spend our days watching the conveyors and making sure the husks are separating properly. It is a very hands-on kind of job. We don't wear suits or sit in fancy chairs. Most of the time we are wearing old clothes that can get dirty. We talk to the farmers when they bring their harvest in. They have their own worries about the weather and the prices. We listen and then we get to work. The building itself is old but it does the job. We have to keep an eye on the moisture levels in the grain, which can be tricky if it has been raining. There isn't any complicated management structure here. We just do what needs to be done. When the harvest season is in full swing, we are here from dawn until late at night. It’s exhausting but seeing the white rice come out the other end is satisfying in a simple way. We just keep the mill going. Sometimes the power fluctuates and we have to reset everything. The floors get slippery with the bran if we don't sweep often. It is just part of the daily grind. We have lunch sitting on the steps outside when it is not too hot. We don't have many visitors, mostly just trucks and people from the village. It is a quiet life but we are always busy with something.