The Women at the Well

The community well An early -- and better -- version of Facebook.

Strange as it may seem, there was a time before Facebook, Twitter, and all the rest of the anti-social media when people gathered and actually spoke to each other. For these women in Madras, India, it wasn’t just a daily chore to come to the community well to wash clothes or draw water for their families — it was the social event of the day. A time and place to catch up on the latest gossip, enjoy time with old friends, and sometimes, to make new ones.

With water that’s piped into our homes and available at the turn of a tap, we have come a long way from the community well — although in my own lifetime I have both pumped water from a well and carried it from a spring for our household use. (Yes, I have lived a long time, in case you're wondering.) 

But do the electronic communications that connect us to anyone and everyone meet our heart’s need for true companionship? Or do the women at the well have something many of us have lost?

See also my post The Lost Art of Porch Sitting.  

Photographs and text copyright 2022, David B.Jenkins.

I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo -- For the glory of God alone

My book, Backroads and Byways of Georgia, is now out of print, although copies are apparently still available from Amazon, and possibly other sources. The second edition is now in the editing stage and is scheduled to be released on December 6th.