The Gender Blog

I’ve written a lot about children on here; yesterday, I started thinking about women in India at the other end of the age spectrum.

On my last visit,  I blogged about one of the beach based fruit sellers, Mama, who walks the beach every day,  carrying a 30kg/66lbs basket of fruit, nuts and coconuts on her head.

I saw her again yesterday,  at the end of her day,  when her basket was considerably lighter after 8 hours of walking up and down the beach, but still pretty heavy.  She looked absolutely exhausted and I sat and had another chat with her (she remembered me from November) and bought her a snack and a drink.

During the course of our chat,  she told me that she is aged SEVENTY. I was aghast – imagine working so hard at any age, carrying that heavy basket in very hot and humid temperatures,  but especially when you’re 70. I asked her when she might retire and she shrugged and said “never” – so I guess she has to keep on working.

What a hard, hard life for any woman,  but particularly for someone of that age.