A Traditional Housewife

The woman married at a young age to the eldest son of a farmer- my maternal uncle and neighbor. Usually, she woke up early at the crow's caw and swept the dirt floor of the house with a broom often wiping it with water and a nura ( wet cloth ) After that she took a bath, changed her clothes and wiped with water the surface before the holy Basil(Tulsi) in the middle of the courtyard as well as the surfaces at the portico and inside the house where the family Deities traditionally reside. After these tasks, she prayed the Deities and holy Basil while burning mekruk(,an incense). The prayer was once again repeated at dusk lighting a lantern or candle. As a routine she grinding,hand-pounding and flapping paddy,(sometimes cutting firewood) alone or with a sister- in -law, cooking food( burning firewood) and serving the family members, cleaning the kitchen and utensils after the food served. After these she washed clothes for the family members. And in the afternoon she wove clothes at the fly scuttle loom in the outhouse. Besides, she helped the neighbours in times of need. She treated her father-in-law and mother-in-law with devotion, regarded her husband's younger siblings as if they were her own children. Many children were born to her but, she died prematurely at the age of seventy. After her death I sometimes remember her as one of the symbols of traditional housewives of the old past . .