Akash Rice Mills

Akash Rice Mills sits out on Village Raipur Road in Khurd. It’s a bit out of the way, which we actually prefer. It's quieter out here until the tractors start arriving. We have a couple of sheds and a drying yard that takes up most of the space. My cousin and a few neighbors work here with me. We don't have a lot of fancy equipment, just the basics that get the husk off the rice. The road can be a bit narrow for the bigger trucks, so we have to coordinate who comes in and when. Sometimes we have to move stuff by hand when the loader is acting up. It builds muscle, I guess. We take our breaks under the big tree near the entrance. It's nice to sit for a minute and watch the birds. The work is repetitive, but there is something satisfying about seeing the clean rice come out the other side. We don't do any big advertising. Word of mouth around the village is usually enough for us. We’ve had some bad seasons with the rain, but we just keep going. The roof leaks a bit in the far corner, we keep meaning to fix that one of these days. But for now, we just move the bags to the dry side. It’s a honest day's work and it keeps the lights on for everyone.