Left with no choice

Manonith is from one of the poorest states of India, Chhattisgarh in the mid-east. The state ranks lowest in the country in the Human Development Index and has one of the lowest standards of living.

Manonith's family are subsistence rice farmers and have a vegetable patch and survive from the combined harvest of the two. Occasionally they have some funds when they get casual work labouring on construction sites and road building projects. For an 8 hour day, they are paid 150 rupees, well below the government indexed daily wage. In fact, two thirds below what they should be paid.

Manonith left her home last year in May to help deliver a baby in her sister's household in the city of Chandigarh in Punjab. She then moved to Delhi to find work and save some money for her son's wedding. She doesn't expect to see her husband and children until she returns to her home in December, after what will add up to an absence of 19 months. When I asked her (what was really an ill considered question), if she misses her family, she simply said of course. People like Manonith don't have the luxury of choices or indulging their feelings. They barely survive and work extraordinarily hard just to stay afloat.

Manonith takes care of our friends' infant son. They all came to visit.
She and I chatted in the kitchen while we made tea after lunch. I asked if she liked what we ate for lunch expecting her regional food to be different, curious about her family's rituals. Manonith said that back in her home they don't eat like we do. We'd had two different kinds of vegetables, dhal, roti and yoghurt. Her family she told me eat very simply and have one type of vegetable with roti or rice.

As we stood over the pot of chai simmering on the gas flame, I added cardamom pods, sugar and the milk to the mix. I asked Manonith if she thought the quantity of milk was enough. She said that they drink their tea black, mostly with ginger, occasionally with sugar and never with milk. Her family have one cow which is used in the field for ploughing not for milking. And milk if they are ever able to afford to buy any is reserved for the infants.