Read the original article in Village Square here
Author: Abhijeet Jadhav
The simple act of cooking takes on a difficult dimension due to lack of easy access to fuel and water, forcing women in rural India to walk long distances to get them, increasing drudgery and leading to health hazards that call for immediate action
She wakes up at 5am when it is still dark and the rest of the family is asleep. She walks 4 km to reach a hillock and starts gathering firewood. By daybreak, she is back and starts cooking for the family. What about water for cooking? That involves another trek.
She represents most women in Bubli, a tribal village in Surgana taluk of Nashik district, where most of the households do not have cooking gas connection. The trek for firewood and water is repeated every day of the year. Prolonged bending, carrying excessive loads, improper postures, and limited time for rest have a telling effect on the health of the women.
Food is central to human life, but should life be consumed by the simple act of cooking? We often take fuel and water for granted. But not everyone is privileged to have easy access to these basic necessities. There are pockets in India where women have to work hard for hours to gather water and firewood. There is huge amount of labor by rural women around the simple task of cooking that is never quantified.