Friday Thoughts-The Woman Who Loved Her Job

This is Jayamani. A woman who works at a rural development centre in a village in Thanjavur district. She takes care of cows, cleans the centre and attends to small chores in the farm. I saw her when she had just joined work—they were negotiating her salary. Knowing the high turnover rates, I had wondered if I would see her the next time I visited. But she stayed and she stayed and she stayed when others left, when others did not care.

She fell in love with the cows at the centre. Everytime I asked her for a photograph, she would find a cow to pose with.

I have seen her cry when a cow fell sick. Tears brimming, cursing the other farm hands loudly, she  worriedly tried to figure out how to help the sick one.

In a short period she figured out the area better than others. She showed me the small altar of a Grove Goddess nearby which even the heads of the centre didn’t know.

Everytime I have visited, she has beamed a smile and has never let me go without drinking tea made from the milk of cows—each time a different cow’s milk so I can differentiate the taste.

I have given her some goodies at times but nothing more than that. She has never asked me for anything either. She just kept coming to work.

Here is a woman who does not have a fancy job but unlike many, has the job satisfaction.