This is a sight I watched at Lamptaput, Orissa during one of my visits. Woman would return home after their work in the field, having bathed in the stream, with a head load carrying a bucket of water and wood and sometimes another bag hanging with provisions from the other hand.
I have followed some of them for a short distance to see if they would drop water from the bucket they carry on the head. They do not. Obviously, they have perfected the art of balancing. These women do it daily and with great ease. Often the walk can be for about forty five minutes. None of the younger woman, I observed seemed to do this way. They carried either a head load or a hand load.
I recall this to draw an insight for myself at this time, when I too have to hold many things together at this time of relocation. There is a balance or state of stability, each of us has to find sooner than later. This needs willingness, openness, and effort, all of which takes time and attention.
Let me suggest that, we need to unload, if the pressure is palpable, to begin on a journey to find a state of well being. There is a natural obsession to do more and more. This suggests a greed for doing more of the same, in the hope that there will be more gains from more work.
Instead, there is a state of well being only if we have a blend of experiences, not too much or too less of anything. The lady in the picture knows the right proportion of weight she has to distribute between her head and hand from her experience. This is the key: can we work without generating stress from the work we do!
A woman shows the way!
M.C.Mathew(text and photo)
No comments:
Post a Comment