Sadiksha Rice Mill

You can find our mill in Village Post Kalwan, which is right near National Highway 4. Because we are so close to the highway, we see a lot of long-distance travelers and big freight trucks passing by every single hour. The village itself is much quieter than the road. We are surrounded by green fields for most of the year, which is a nice view to have when you are working. The mill is a collection of several large sheds and a paved area where we dry the grain. It is a very physical job, shifting the heavy sacks and making sure the grain is spread out evenly. We have a few local workers who come in every morning from the nearby houses. We usually start while the mist is still hanging over the ground. The machines we use are old but reliable, provided we take care of them. The air around the mill is always filled with the sound of the husker and the smell of toasted grain. We have a small bench under a neem tree where we sit to have our tea and snacks. It’s a simple setup. We don't have a computerised system or anything like that; we mostly use hand-written notebooks to keep track of what comes in and what goes out. Life here moves at a different pace than the city, even with the highway right there. We just focus on the harvest and making sure the rice is ready on time for the buyers.