No problem finding women working in construction in Mumbai.
These women are digging a trench right outside my hotel in preparation for pipe work. They appear to be family units. The women work in the trench shoveling and removing cobblestones and dirt. The men work the pike loosing the materials. The workers spoke no English. The woman in the blue sari on the sidewalk spoke a bit. She seemed to be the supervisor. She wants 10 rupees apiece if I want to talk with them tomorrow. I might try to find a translator. They were still working when I went for a walk at 7:30 tonight. Not sure if these kids are the workers’ but they could be. They were at the site all day. Maybe the workers children or could be part of the many families that live along the side of the rode.
Tradeswomen Building Bridges: the North American Network of Women Working in the Construction Trades 
I can’t believe that if the supervisor gets 10 rupees per worker that the workers will see any of it.
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Unknown blue sari-woman is thinking global. Talk is not cheap. Information, after all, is a commodity. Who “owns” it, shares, mediates, buys or sells it can be but isn’t always presented as just and as clean a transaction as we would like.
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Great pictures! Glad you’ve gotten right to work! : )
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Best of luck in this endeavor!!
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Great pictures.
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Really terrific detail on the pics, Susan! Interesting division of labor and interesting that the children aren’t working…..good!
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Powerful images, Susan! Among many things about the details of these pics, I am struck that they are barefoot. I wonder what the politics are of the 10 rupees a piece? Meaning you can’t talk to them without going through her?
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67.79+/- rupees = 1$ 10 rupees… What does that buy you on the street to feed your kids? Curious.
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Sorry I missed this, Nancy. I don’t eat on the street! Although that comes with its own challenges because Indians eat street food and there are not the number of restaurants that those us from colder climates are used to. First of all, conversion to ruppees. Move the decimal point two places to the left and increase by 50%. So Rs 100 is about $1.50. Now how far does money go. I can buy a nice dinner for Rs 60, or $9. I can buy a beautiful orange from a vendor for Rs 20 or 30 cents. I wish I was feeding my kids but they are in Boston. Hayden will be here for part of my 2017 return to India.
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Everything costs Rs10 … except things that cost more.
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so excited to see your reports
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Thank you for your inspiration and Transnational Tradeswomen.
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