In the Kitchen, Trivandrum, South India

In a traditional house, the housewife, or a maidservant, often built the stove by hand from materials purchased at Chalai Bazaar. This kitchen has the remnants of an old stove on the left, but the owner, the woman on the right, prefers her new two-burner gas stove. The owner keeps firewood handy in the rafters just above her in case the gas canister runs out.