The Three Zhuomas from a Tibetan Family

Many Tibetan girls are called "Zhuoma", a Tibetan word which means beautiful goddess.
In Zhongdian of Yunnan Province, I encountered three women all from the same family with that name.
Their different family roles reveal the workings of a typical Tibetan household.
To distinguish between the three women, they are called Dingzhuo, Cizhuo and Lazhuo by family members and villagers.
According to Tibetan custom, the oldest person in a family enjoy the highest rank, so Dingzhuo, 75, has the unique status in her large family of four generations.
In recent years, life has become better and better, all her children and grandchildren have now grown up and Dingzhuo has a lot of leisure time.
Burning joss sticks before the family's shrine is one of her main daily tasks. Every morning after she finishes the work, she sits near the fire making tea made with yak's butter and kneading glutinous rice cakes.
In the evening, she is fond of telling stories to her great-grandchildren.
Dingzhuo, like other old persons with a deep belief in Buddhism, is looking forward to a peaceful and easy life in her remaining days.
Though her work as a housewife, Cizhuo, 56, Dingzhou's oldest daughter, is the decision-maker for the whole family. A housewife is called "Poda" by the tibetans. The 'Poda" is usually in charge of a family budget and arranging family affairs.
Everyone in the family considers Cizhuo the most capable person. She has led the big family through hard times before the 1980s when they were very poor.
Today, her children have grown up and work outside. She also has a capable daughter-in-law, Lazhuo, who now does most of the housework Cizhuo used to do.
Fellow villagers often say to Cizhuo with admiration that she is so lucky to have such a hardworking and smart daughter-in-law.
Lazhuo is now probably the busiest person in the family. Her husband has a business and now her mother-in-law has begun to relax a little, most of the housework is arranged by Lazhuo.
She gets up very early in the morning. The first thing she does is to burn incense and pray. After finishing this, she makes breakfast for the family. Usually, her mother-in-law helps her with some housework. Besides making three meals, Lazhuo also weaves woolen blanket, milk the cows, feed the domestic animals and works in the field.
The three Zhuomas play their different roles in this Tibetan family. "Whatever we do is for the family," Cizhuo said.
For them, their sole mission of life is to make the family a happy one.