Chheda Dal Mill

Chheda Dal Mill is tucked away in Shop No. 6 of the Khandwani Mansion on J.P. Road. If you know where Navrang Cinema is in Andheri West, then you have probably walked past us a dozen times without noticing. We’ve been here at Plot No. 123 for a long time. The space isn't very big, and we have to stack the heavy bags of dal almost to the ceiling. It’s a bit of a tight squeeze when a delivery comes in. My uncle started this mill, and I took over after I finished school. It’s a lot of physical labor, lifting and moving those sacks all day long. The air is always a bit dusty from the grains, so we keep the fans going. We don’t do much advertising because the local restaurants and families around Andheri West already know us. Sometimes the traffic on J.P. Road is so bad that the trucks can't even get close to the shop door. We just have to wait it out. It is a basic operation. We have a small desk in the corner where we keep the accounts and a phone that rings more than it should. We aren't trying to be the biggest mill in the city. We just want to do our job and go home to our families at night. It’s honest work, and it keeps us busy from morning until late evening most days of the week.