This drew my attention where labour is being compared to slavery. It sounds harsh, definitely. But this is the reality to some extent even today. Effort, skill, expertise and the time spent is still not in balance with the recognition given in terms of both pay scale and knowledge. Not only degree holders know it all. Rather there many things which labour understands much better than degree holders. This is something we extensively studied, discussed and experienced during the summer studio this year. We had an incredible opportunity to work as and with the labour in different scales of landscapes. This reading helps me relate quite a few things to those experiences we had then, at a glance.

This is an interesting way of measuring the quality and the quantity of a task. Task of making objects or building structures. "Standard of labour" or "working time" being considered as the measure for the products. For me, this relates to what we call present day as "skilled labour." Labour which is skilled at certain tasks. Their time and expertise are the measure to qualify and quantify the work produced or product furnished. For example, stone masons in India. Their experience and expertise is focused on building load bearing stone walls. Skill and effort is tremendous, recognition and pay is in inverse proportion. Can this be considered as objectified labour, eventually? Can this be categorised as sacrifice or self-realisation?

It all starts at the household level. Division of labour is something everyone grew up watching and experiencing too. Here, each member's capacities and inclinations played keys roles in deciding which task will be performed by whom. This was a collective effort in view of achieving a common goal. Involvement matters here the most. Any kind of, may it be just verbal encouragement to others. Setting up the dinner table was a celebrated activity at my house. Tasks were allotted to all. My part as a ten year old was to get water and glasses. My sister's was to place the dishes and later clear them. We took up another's task if he or she was not present. This way, we became experts at different tasks with practice. This was unpaid domestic work but this where our mind was being trained for the world. Pattern and learning will be similar, context will be different. Household was like a small model representing the bigger situations happening outside.

This reminds me of two situations. Summer studio and labour that I was able to work with two years ago. During the summer studio, designers worked as the labor. Here, some had the experience and expertise of using certain tools and following certain techniques while others did not. But the ones who were able taught the others who were not. Towards the end of the course, all of were experts in different kinds of tasks as everyone did everything here. If someone did not know how, they were taught by others. It was a group effort which helped us achieve huge success. Now, the second situation, that is the labour that I was able to work with in India. Here, the division is so clear that a person fixing flooring tiles will have no connection at all with the person painting the walls. There will be a connection but not a direct one. Connection which is through the contractor or the designer or in some cases, the client. Experts have their groups, they do not merge. They work separately with their own expertise. Separation here is very strong. A third party is needed to establish contact and discussion.