She lifted the wide basin gracefully onto her head and set off down the road - to my astonishment it was full of hot molten tar and I watched fascinated as she lifted it down and poured the contents onto the road she was building along with the rest of the construction gang. She looked just like a Grecian Water Bearer. No concession was made to the work she was doing - she should have been in overalls with light reflecting strips - but instead she was in a sari ,with veil over the top of her head and glinting bangles on her wrists.
Women are a part of heavy construction work in India and I recently watched them carrying the same wide basins on their heads, this time filled with sand, and pouring it through the sifter for cement mixing. And again carrying tall towers of bricks neatly balanced on their heads. One can only marvel at their strength, balance and poise. But to someone from the West, it was a shock to see women employed in this way.
No comments:
Post a Comment