The weather at this time of the year is unforgiving, but every evening, as I walk home, I see her walking home with a bag or two on her back, among a group of school children. But don't mistake her for an old woman going to school. It is but a burden of old age. Old age is the best time for prayers some say, but Abi Wangdi does not enjoy that kind of luxury for she has to drop her two grandchildren to school and pick them up in the evening.
Growing up in rural Bhutan, the richest people in the village often had very little cash. They were known as chukpo , 'the ones with cattle'. And no one asked how much money a person had in the bank. No one or only a countable few had bank accounts, anyway. Wealth was measured in fields, cattle, grains, and the ability to carry a family through the seasons. Cash existed, but it played only a small role. Most exchanges happened through barter. Rice for chillies, soya beans for Sichuan peppers, cheese for eggs. I still remember that a ball of homemade cheese was worth two fresh eggs. Nobody needed a calculator because people simply knew. The most remarkable part of the system was the exchange of labour. During sowing and planting seasons, families needed extra hands, yet labour was rarely paid in cash. If I spent three days helping on your farm, you spent three days helping on mine in return. No contract was needed to be signed. No money changed hands. Wealthier households so...
The pictures are disturbing for my soul. She may be doing it for the love of her grandchildren but the heavy load and the thick clothes in pling at this time of the year may not be her fav. She may want to sit under the shade of some tree near the Zangdopelri with other old folks praying... we often forget that our parents are not our babysitters, they have babysitted us and given us this comfortable life...now it's the time for us to grannysit them...
ReplyDeletePS: remove second, third and the fifth pictures...
Yeah PaSsu. I was disturbed myself and it took me sometime to ask her. Old people have had their share of work, as you have said it. But the reality is far bigger than the expectations. There is no happiness when old people have no time for prayers.
ReplyDeleteThanks PaSsu, I have removed those pictures you have asked me to successfully.