At the gates of this huge temple,
I stand to let tourists enter.
Grey hair and wrinkled skin,
I have been around in thick and thin.
No uniform, chair or desktop,
This temple is my workshop.
Every day you will find me here,
Never leaving till the Sun is near.
Children, men, women and the elderly,
I count all tickets properly.
Faith and duty at one place,
I am lucky to have my space.
I am a ticket checker.

Today is edition #6 of #WomenAtWork, a regular photo feature on this blog. Read the inaugural post to know more.
Early this year, when we travelled to Hampi, this lady was the ticket checker at the Vittala Temple. She diligently focused on her duty but did not forget to smile at tourists. I did not talk to her but she still posed for me.
Hi, thanks for including a link to the inaugural post. As a first time visitor features like this are most visitor friendly. Loved the colour of your pics too.
Fran @travelgenee visiting from the A to Z Road Trip,
TravelGenee Blog
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Thanks Fran for stopping by. 🙂
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Hi Parul,
Your description brought back the poem Ancient Mariner somehow… 🙂 xx Ash
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Really? I haven’t read that. Let me google. 🙂
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Truly, there are some people who are totally devoted to their jobs. And yet, they never seem to lose that smile on their face.
Beautiful post, Parul😃
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Beautiful words to describe this wonderful woman and the pride in her job.
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If a work is done with devotion, it has dignity. 🙂 Wonderful poem.
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No work is small, just our thoughts!
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Pride in our work, in whatever we do for an honest living:)
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Faithfulness and pride in doing a job well no matter how humble, everything here to admire.
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She stands with such grace and dignity. You have described her well, Parul.
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What a wonderful ode to a simple, hardworking soul! 🙂
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Amazing!! Your words make this picture even more empowering 🙂
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Hey, despite my many visits to temples, I’ve never known one in which tickets were sold! How cool that lady is. Very powerful too.
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We all have met people doing mundane jobs who develop bitterness in their expression. Getting to know about somebody who can have a smiling expression while doing such a work is so appealing.
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Amazingly woven..your words actually painted the whole scene in front of eyes and the pic at the end showed that the end result was not much different 🙂
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nice to meet her 🙂
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Tough jobs for some… in a country such as yours with sometimes extreme weather.
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Oh I agree. Thanks Ramya.
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Such an inspiring concept! More power 🙂
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That’s a beautiful tribute to a job which generally is quite thankless whether be it the ticket checker at the cinema hall or at the temple.
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