Perumal Rice Mill

Perumal Rice Mill sits right at 859, Vindya Kovil Street. It’s a long street and we are towards the end of it. The sound of the mill is something you get used to after a few days of working here. We have the old machinery that makes a lot of racket but it gets the job done. Most of our day is spent hauling heavy sacks around and making sure the grain is flowing through the machines properly. 859 is a busy number because people are always dropping off paddy. The air inside Vindya Kovil Street is often thick with the smell of dry husks. We don't have a fancy waiting room or anything like that. People just stand around the entrance and chat while they wait. The floor is concrete and it’s usually stained with oil from the motors. We have a small corner with a stool where we keep our water bottle and a tiffin box. It gets hot in the afternoons but we just keep the fans running. It’s a lot of sweat and hard work but that is just the nature of the mill business. We’ve seen many seasons come and go from this spot. The neighbors don't seem to mind the noise much since we've been here so long. We just keep our heads down and focus on the bags and the weight. It's a plain life at the mill but we like it.