The women no longer float among the bushes clad in beautiful coloured saris, picking by hand if they ever did, anywhere other than in postcards and guidebooks.

These days they have polythene under rubber aprons for protection and use what look like suburban garden hedge shears attached to a metal box.  Not as romantic but much more practical.

At the end of a long day the pickers weigh in their crop.  They earn 80Rp. ($2US) for a minimum of 100 kilo then a few Rp. for every kilo over the daily minimum.  Their  take home pay is about 120 Rp. per