Balaji Rice Mundy

Balaji Rice Mundy is situated at 56, Sankagiri Main Road in the Kondalampatti area of Salem. Salem is known for being quite warm, and our shop on the main road definitely feels the heat during the middle of the day. We are a rice mundy, so we handle bulk amounts of different varieties of rice. The front of the shop is usually lined with open samples so people can see what the grain looks like that week. We have a lot of bags stacked up in the back, and moving them around is a workout for everyone involved. The main road stays busy, so there is always a bit of a rush to get things loaded or unloaded without blocking the traffic for too long. We don't have fancy air conditioning or any modern decor; it is just a plain shop with white-washed walls and a few old benches for people to sit on while they wait. Our bookkeeping is done by hand, and we still use the old-style weighing machines for some things. It’s a simple operation, really. We talk to a lot of people every day, from local residents to small shop owners who buy their stock from us. The hours are long, but that is just the way the rice business works in this part of town. We just focus on keeping the stock moving and making sure the counts are right at the end of the day.