Venkatesh Rice Trades

Venkatesh Rice Trades is based out in Narasapuram, over in the West Godavari district. Being in this part of the country, we are surrounded by fields and the weather is usually very humid. Our warehouse is a large space where we keep the rice we get from the local mills. It is a lot of work keeping everything dry and away from the dampness that comes with the rains. The smell of raw rice is everywhere here. It is a scent we have grown to love over the years. We spend a lot of our time coordinating with the truck drivers who take the loads to the different markets. The office is just a small cabin built into one corner of the warehouse. It has a single window that looks out onto the loading bay. We have a heavy iron safe for the cash and a lot of old registers filled with names and numbers. It gets very loud when the machinery is running or when the trucks are idling outside. We don't really use much technology, preferring to do things the way they have always been done in Narasapuram. Sometimes the power goes out and we have to work by candlelight for an hour or two, but the work never really stops. It is a simple business, built on long days and a lot of heavy lifting under the hot sun. That is just how life is for us here.