Tara Maa Rice Mill

Our mill is located right on SH-2 in Mayapur. It’s in the Hooghly district, and we are very close to the Muthadanga R.K High School. You can usually hear the school bell ringing from our yard if the machines aren't running too loud. We’ve been processing rice here for a long time. It’s a dusty business, and by the end of the shift, everything is covered in a fine layer of husk. The trucks come in loaded with grain from the local farms, and they line up along the road. We have a couple of large sheds where the heavy machinery sits. It’s hot work, especially in the summer months when the metal roofaks up all the heat. My clothes usually smell like toasted grain by the time I go home. We don't have a fancy office, just a small room with a wooden desk and a few chairs for when the farmers come to talk. Sometimes the power goes out and we have to wait around for it to come back on, which gives us a chance to sit in the shade. It’s a basic life, centered around the seasons and the harvest. We just try to keep the rollers turning and the bags filled. It's a lot of heavy lifting and sweating, but it's what keeps the village moving.