Y’s house was under construction and newer parts are being made from cement and bricks to make it more stable than the old mud-made parts. The bricks used in construction had names and acronyms stamped on them - words like India, Raj and MSM.There were large tubs filled with buffalo feed behind the house, and the children played with homemade toys made from trees. Y worked as a watchman at a factory in Malegaon, Maharashtra and had been saving up to build the new pukka rooms. He had a wife, B, four children, and a goat. Their daughter was sickly and tiny with lustreless light brown hair and Y’s wife, B, was not well either. She experienced bleeding while using the toilet and it was difficult to tell whether the lack of medical care was due to inconclusive results or B’s reluctance to undergo treatment. The children who ran throughout the house, however, wore all sorts of protective string bracelets to ward off bad luck and illnesses - black, red and green strings tied round tiny waists and wrists.
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Nalanda, Bihar