Khushbu Rice Mill

If you walk down towards Mahila College in Professor Colony, you can usually hear the hum of our machines. Khushbu Rice Mill has been here for a good while. We process different kinds of rice for the local farmers and also for the families living around here. It is a dusty job, and by the end of the day, my clothes are usually covered in a fine white powder. The building is an old shed with a high tin roof that makes a lot of noise when it rains. We have two main machines that do most of the work. They are old but they still run okay if we grease them properly every morning. The students from the college pass by every day, and sometimes they stop to ask about the smell of the fresh husk. It’s a very specific scent, kind of earthy and warm. We don't really have an office; I just keep my books on a small wooden table near the entrance. People bring their paddy in trailers or on the back of cycles. We weigh it, mill it, and then they take back their bags. Sometimes there’s a wait if the electricity is acting up, which happens more than I’d like in this part of town. It’s hard work and it gets very hot inside during the summer months, but it is what we do. It’s just a mill, nothing more, nothing less.