continued from Part One - please note that "Head-loaders" is a real word in India and within other world economies.
On the previous day, having witnessed these magnificent people breaking rocks - and in the process, being transported back a 100 years in time - both the Social Studies teacher and the photographer in me wanted a return visit. If you can believe this....on the first day of watching all this transpire, I was so taken back by what I was seeing and photographing, I gave scant attention to where these loads of hand-carried rocks were ultimately going. What was their final destination? Yes, I could easily see they were being handed-off in an uphill and lengthy tandem line - and it appeared that some of these "Head-loaders" were women! However, after having already shot for two hours on a hot and humid day, I was depleted. Thus, it was "okay" that my memory card was filled. Mind you, in "normal" situations, one of the cardinal rules of photography is to never be caught without spares of batteries and memory cards. My excuse, however, was that I was originally in a "touristy" mode. And besides, I had no idea that I was going to run into these folks. I rationalized. Tomorrow was another day.
If there is such a thing as being double awe-struck over the same topic, this is what happened to me on this second day. I say that because upon following the tandem line to its eventual destination, an entirely new dynamics to this rock-carrying revealed itself. With the intent of tracing the tandem-line to the house being constructed, I started photographing. As stated, the line went up a (slight) hill, but then it cut through an alley way to its eventual destination. In all of this, it became quickly evident that the most distinguishing factor of these Head-loaders was the fact that beyond a certain point, all of them were women. What about all the studies comparing body strength of men and women? At day's end, I couldn't get to Google fast enough. A study in the Journal of Applied Physiology (dated December 07, 2015) found that men had an average of 26 lbs. (12 kilograms) more skeletal muscle mass than women. Women also exhibited about 40 percent less upper-body strength and 33 percent less lower-body strength, on average. But wait, these women were carrying the same exact rocks as the men who relayed them at the bottom of the hill. Anecdotally speaking, whoever said women are the physically weaker gender have never encountered these valiant souls.
As mentioned, this next day of photographing opened up a whole new dimension to this story. Although my friend Indra was not with me on this second day, fortunately, I was able to communicate with the women. One of them was able to converse quite well in English. In doing so, I tried my best to not be seen as a fawning - patronizing (especially Western) tourist. Instead, I was subtle in my attempts to show them the respect they richly deserved. As such, I gave them the same message that I did to the men the day before. That is, how humble I felt in their presence...that they were/are the real workers of the world and how much I admired them. And like the men, they too, were very appreciative of my thoughts. They were also appreciative of the 1000 rupees (about $14) which I gave to be divided among the nine of them. Since my visit, I have learned these rock-breakers and Head-loaders earn, on average, 350 rupees (about $5) per day.
As I stated at the end of the explanation of Part One of this photo essay, perhaps you have read this verbose description of what went on here - perhaps not. In any case, please give these individual photos a look - preferably on something larger than a cell (mobile) phone. And while doing so, don't forget to click on or tap the screen so as to enlarge the photo. Enjoy ! T.M.
