The Ludhiana Distt. Co-Op. Mill

Our place is right on Ferozepur Road. It is a very busy stretch of road, so there is always a lot of traffic and horns honking passing by the gates. The mill is a big old building, and it has been a part of the landscape here for a very long time. It is a cooperative, so things work a bit differently than a private shop might. We have a lot of people coming in from the nearby farms and villages every day. The air inside the building always smells a bit like grain and dry earth. We have these big paper registers where everything gets written down by hand. There is a lot of noise from the machinery when everything is running at the same time. We do not have any fancy carpets or air conditioning in the main work areas. It is just stone floors and high ceilings that echo. Most of us have worked here for years, so we know each other's families and how everyone likes their tea in the afternoon. It gets especially busy during the harvest season, and we all have to put in some extra hours then. We do not really do any marketing; the farmers just know where we are located. We sit in the small office near the entrance to handle the paperwork. The desks are always cluttered with samples and old newspapers. It is just a solid way of doing things.