Thangam Dal Mill

The mill is out in Alangudi Taluk, and it stays pretty hot out here most of the year. You can hear the sound of the machines from the end of the road when we are in the middle of a big batch. It is a heavy, rhythmic thumping that lets everyone know we are working. We deal with a lot of raw dal coming straight from the fields nearby. The dust is something you just have to live with when you run a mill like this. We wear old clothes because everything gets covered in a fine powder by noon. The roof is corrugated metal, so when it rains, it gets so loud we can’t even hear ourselves talk. We have a small office near the front gate where the records are kept in big ledger books. Most of our day is spent checking the moisture levels and making sure the machines don't overheat. If a motor breaks, we usually fix it ourselves with whatever tools are lying around the workshop. It’s not a glamorous job, but it is steady. We see the same farmers every season, bringing in their harvest. We sit on plastic chairs under the shade of the neem tree during our lunch break. It is a slow-paced life until the harvest hits, and then we are working late into the night under a few bright bulbs. It’s just how things are done here in the village, and we don't expect it to change.