The ability to choose your tradeoffs is empowering
Sari shop, Old Delhi, India, January 9th 2009 Sonia is just 26 years old. She went to work at age 9, when other little girls were going to school. She didn't say if she started working as a gofer in a beauty parlour after school and actually graduated, though it seems likely since she sounded […]
Boot polish
Chandni Chowk, Old Delhi, January 9th 2009 Yes, I've been sitting right here in this very spot for the past 8 or 10 years. Its not bad work really, I average about Rs 200 to Rs 250 per day in earnings. I charge Rs 5 for cleaning these leather shoes of yours, haven't you been […]
‘Life Is Like A Casino – We Live Each Day As It Comes’: from Zimbabwe
From IPS News comes a fascinating account of life at the bottom of the pyramid on an irregular and unpredictable income, some key snippets: Long lines of stalls, run by women, have sprung up next to many of Zimbabwe’s highways, selling honey, milk, mushrooms, tomatoes, onions and chickens. As prices in towns skyrocket due to […]
A woman’s work: one widow’s story
Widow Lady in blue, Dastkar workshop, Ranthambhore, January 1st 2009 I was widowed at a young age. My in-laws were very poor and could not afford to support my three small children and myself but I refused to go back to my maternal home (in shame). I would somehow find a way to bring them […]
Migrating back to the village
Master craftsman, Dasktkar Ranthambhore, India January 1st 2009 I used to work in Jaipur but recently came back to my home village because its cheaper, my Rupee stretches further. Yes, I was very lucky to get this job in my profession, I am being paid less in Rupee amounts than I had been making in […]
Alternatives to that kilo of wheat
Khari Baoli, Old Delhi, India January 9th 2009 Since we can’t all take our sack of wheat along when going shopping, some alternatives must be found. It seems that there’s an observable rise in alternative currencies occurring across the developed world, where perhaps, unlike the villages of India or elsewhere, simple barter using food grains […]
Airtime airlines – literally paying as you go
From Wired comes news of this innovative business model and pricing strategy just announced by a new South African airline, here's a longish snippet describing how it will all work, if they manage to get things off the ground, so to speak: Taking a cue from the cellphone industry, an upstart South African airline is […]
Barter economy: rural farming community, India
Raawal Village, Rajasthan, India, January 4th 2009 This tiny shop (with a little more stuff inside) is one of a dozen or so little shops in this village of 3000 people, mostly farmers. Narsi Meena, the shopkeeper is the only one for whom this is his sole source of income. You see, my local guide […]
Subsistence farming: managing on two harvests a year
Photo credit: Goverdhan Meena, January 3rd 2009 We have two harvests a year. One near Deepawali (Oct/Nov) and one near Holi (March). This one is our expensive one, I've planted wheat, mustard and horsegram. Wheat take 5 parts of water compared to 2 parts for mustard and only one part for the lentils. The cost […]
Emergency loan when the wheat mill broke down
This is the source of one man's income. Its a flour mill, where wheat is ground into flour. In the village, there is no supermarket where one can go and pick up a 5lb sack of flour. One has to harvest one's wheat field first, then take the golden grains to the 'chakki' to be […]
