Then and Now...Now and Then, Again
I am back at the window again today with my coffee and I see the group has come to start their day's work. Last week, I had seen them for the first time. What drew me to the window was their noisy arrival in a rickety old vehicle in our quiet neighborhood. There was a general buzz around the colony as they quickly offloaded the small truck carrying an array of iron poles and other assorted construction material. Even before I've finished my coffee, the ladies in the group have effortlessly donned shirts over their sarees, giving the much used fashion term Fusion a new meaning. For all the noise on the TV news "shows" about women's empowerment these women have been walking and working alongside the men and are the backbone of most construction sites I have seen. The two young children accompanying them have now developed a routine in the neighborhood without much fuss. The older one has taken charge of the girl who's just a toddler. The mother, I presume, giv...