Jouni Rice Mills

Out here on Narvana Road in Patran, Jouni Rice Mills has been sitting for a good number of years. It’s a plain place, mostly just big sheds and the yard where the trucks park. If you come by during the harvest season, you'll see stacks of bags everywhere, almost reaching the roof. It gets a bit chaotic with all the tractor-trolleys coming and going from the fields. The gate is usually open, and there’s usually someone sitting near the entrance keeping track of things on a clipboard. We don't spend much time worrying about how the front office looks. Mostly, we are concerned with the hullers and the polishers making sure they don't break down when we need them most. The dust gets everywhere, even into your tea if you aren't careful. Patran is a busy area for rice, so we have plenty of neighbors doing the same thing. The guys working here know the machines inside out. If something makes a funny noise, they usually know which bolt needs tightening before I even walk over. It is hot work in the summer, and the tin roof doesn't help much, but we have a couple of big coolers that keep the air moving. We just do our bit day after day. There is no point in pretending it’s anything other than a dusty, loud place where we get the grain ready for the market.