On Rural Charm and Difficult Living Conditions, Infidel things, and Progress

Women and physical labor: there seems to be absolutely no concept in Rajasthan (wider India, too, I think) of women being dainty and unable to do physical work. Indeed, I would say that women do at least 2/3 thirds of the physical work in the rural areas. Whether it is carrying water, manure, or huge stones for building on their heads, or digging pits, or working the fields in all phases, or handling the manure for farming purposes, the women here turn any idea of women being unable to do physical labor on its head. The women here are physically strong and sturdy. Indeed, I have won my arm-wrestling matches with the men here, but I don’t dare challenge the women. I think they’d whoop me. So, I am very impressed by their strength and hard work. I am not so impressed by the fact that they have to do this because the majority of men are lazy and sit around playing cards and talking while the women do the work. It is this that slowly needs to change through development work, among other things.

Eating customs: The village area that I am in seems to have pretty set eating customs. One is that you only use your right hand for eating food, while you use your left hand for handling new chapattis (like tortillas) and other additions to your platter in the course of the meal. I’ve heard the reason for using the right hand for eating is that the left hand is used for bathroom purposes and so is considered unclean. The left hand is used to handle new additions so that you don’t contaminate the common food supplies. In fact, one time I forgot and accidentally grabbed a chapatti that was handed to me with my right hand. Additionally, when I grabbed the chapatti I brushed up against the NGO worker’s hand. With practiced efficiency, the worker quickly wiped off this hand and went back to eating. They also eat some interesting foods, like sliced raw onions. I have to admit that at first I did not like this. It is now growing on me, however, and I look forward to the raw onions with my meal. Interestingly enough, otherwise Indians largely don’t eat raw vegetables, being suspicious of them. Indeed, the vegetables are often cooked to a softness that Americans probably wouldn’t like. All the spices make them wonderfully tasty, so there is no problem for me.