Thump ! Thump ! Thump !

It started with the pounding

De-husking the skin from the rice

With a heavy stick as her device

Separating the two with a palm leaf sieve

She wiped the summer’s sweat off her face with her sari  blouse sleeve

She places the grains of rice between the 2 wheels

While on her haunches she sits and kneels

i watched her as she started to roll the stones

Her body frail  with only skin and bones

Her  hands etched with prevalent veins

She makes it look easy…no sign of effort or strains

I wondered what she’d make with the flour

A process so long  took more than an hour

All this effort only meant.. some yummy bakes

perhaps a rice pudding , or rice cakes  ?

She quickly chopped some logs of wood , smiled and said

This was her daily routine ..

“A hot dinner for her kids with lentils and flat rice breads”