Women at Work
Despite the fact that road construction in India can often look like your typical Department of Transportation work day in the United States where you have ten people standing around trying to solve one small problem, the Indian people are very hard working. And none more so than the women.
These women are helping build a footpath around Elephant Island which is located an hour’s boat ride away from Mumbai. The most efficient way to move this sand and dirt is for them to fill up bowls, balance them on their heads and then walk down an uneven pathway to transfer to another location.
All this in 90 degree heat! There’s something to be said for their saris, which allow for a bit more breeze to blow through than a pair of jeans, which workers in the states would be wearing.
Happy Travels!
How often I saw this, and it hasn’t changed in twenty years. But this does great damage to these women. I wrote about the nuns who did this to earn money for their practice in the caves during the winter. They received a pittance in wages and worked long, hard hours. Now, younger than 50 they are practically crippled from such exhausting work. Meg