G.R. Rice Mill

The G.R. Rice Mill is located over at No 22, Thiru Cauverypakkam, right on the Vellore Road. If you’re driving by, you’ll probably see the dust and hear the machines hum before you see the sign. It’s not a quiet place at all. We spend most of our time dealing with the raw paddy that comes in from the local fields. The noise from the hulling machines is constant throughout the day, so you kind of get used to it after a while. My clothes usually have a layer of fine dust on them by noon. We have a lot of space for the bags to sit while they wait to be processed or shipped out. Vellore Road gets quite busy with trucks, so getting the loads in and out can be a real headache sometimes. The roof is corrugated metal and it gets really hot in the summer, we just keep the big doors open to catch whatever breeze comes through Thiru Cauverypakkam. We don’t have an office with air conditioning or anything fancy like that. Just a small desk with a lot of ledgers and some pens that barely work. We focus on getting the rice cleaned and polished right so it’s ready for the markets. It’s hard work, and our backs usually ache by the time we lock up at night, but that is how a mill runs.