Bending, standing for long hours, and walking across wet fields are considered mere background activity rather than a risk to farmers' health.

Before policy and infrastructure, there is the foot absorbing shock, damage, and survival in India’s agrarian and informal economies, its ubiquitous cracks bearing the imprint of everyday labour.

Urban sandals are footwear worn by women farmers that are almost worn out.

One year, many pairs: footwear absorbing the costs of labour that bodies already bear.

Designed for containment and separation, Wellington boots presume dry ground, upright posture, and standardised movement

Farmers work barefoot and ankle-deep, moving with water, mud, and uneven terrain.

Spinning pastoral wool (right), Palsi is weaving the woollen fabric (left).

Many experiments with different fibres and wool came before the Earthen Tunes shoe.

Final prototype of the Earthen Tunes shoe called ‘Yaar’ for farmers.

For Tanaji, the shoes make moving through wet paddy fields less hazardous.

On uneven ground, flexible footwear supports deep crouching and repetitive work better than rigid boots or bare feet.

Work draws women’s bodies low to the earth, where repetition and strain gather slowly