Above are two typical village scenes in India where oxen are used to plough fields ...One can see a tubewell in the background ans some hills too.In the second picture, two women are busy in their domestic chores.Although the practice of cleaning and crushing wheat grains to prepare ATTA ( Flour) for consumption is done by machines these days, in older times, a CHAKKI ( Grinding stone of a kind) was used for the purpose.In it, there were two heavy disks of stone attached to a wooden handle.The grain was put in between and the person would rotate the upper disk with the help of the handle.It was a labourious process! I am not sure if I am describing it the right way...(as all these things have hindi names and descriptions) But I can assure you that this task was not an easy one, as the stone were very, very heavy. I saw a Chakki myself and I couldn't even dare to attempt moving it! I will try to get a picture of it sometime:>) But the women of our villages were quite strong to manage it so easily.They still are.
