While waiting for a second safari run at Rajaji in a village outside Dehradun, India, I noticed a girl maybe 15 years old carrying two buckets of water across a road.
It was around noon. I was enjoying some light snacks and tea after a morning of leisure. As I sat, I saw the girl return for another trip. And another. And another.
Though it was a school day, she wasn’t in school. Rather, I assume she was gathering water from some remote source. Perhaps for her house, which may have lacked running water. Or maybe for livestock. Or for cement.
That evening, I asked a friend about the girl. “Do you think she minded doing all that work?”
“No,” my friend replied. “I bet she was happy she had water.”
What do you think? Did she mind?
Here she is again:
Other questions bothered me, prime among them: Is it okay that this girl, instead of learning, instead of building a future, spent her day carrying water? It’s a harder question than it might seem, because my friend — versed in local culture — might be right. The girl might be happily enjoying her life. If so, does that make it okay when it otherwise might not be? Or is happiness not the question here?
Again, what do you think?
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