Sri Dhanalacshmi Rice Mill

We’ve been running Sri Dhanalacshmi Rice Mill on Main Road in Thirunelveli for quite some time now. It’s a busy spot at No: 167, and if you walk by, you’ll probably hear the machines humming away most of the day. It gets a bit dusty in here with all the husking, but that’s just how a mill is. Most mornings start early because people like to get their rice sorted before the sun gets too hot. We don't have a big fancy office or anything like that. It’s just the mill floor and a place for the sacks to sit. Sometimes the traffic on Main Road makes it hard to unload the trucks, but we manage. We see a lot of the same faces coming in from around Thirunelveli. People bring their paddy, we process it, and they take it home. There’s not much more to it than that. We try to keep the machines oiled so they don’t break down in the middle of a big batch. It’s hard work, and your clothes end up smelling like grain by the end of the shift. We’ve had some rainy days where the roof leaked a little near the back, but we fixed that last year. Mostly, it's just about keeping things moving and making sure the bags are filled right. It’s a simple living for us here in this part of town. We don't do much advertising, just open the shutters and start the engines.