H lived in a one-story house packed into a winding and narrow lane of tenements. A low gate opened into a small courtyard leading into the main quarters. A tiny patch of mud led to a wooden door behind which was a room dominated by a huge bed which took up almost the entire space. This room was their living-room, dining-room and bedroom all rolled into one. A door led into an open courtyard where the family showers. The other side of the courtyard had another room which served as a kitchen. They had a toilet but no bathroom. H’s wife, B, sat on the floor in one corner sifting a large mound of peanuts. H lay quietly sleeping on the right corner of the bed. Their daughter K sat busy folding clothes and putting them in a huge aluminum trunk lying on the left side of the bed.
H was a rickshaw puller who used to consume some local drugs (nasha). The addiction had taken a toll on his eyesight which culminated in blindness six months before our visit.. H and B had 8 children: 4 sons and 4 daughters. Five of them were married and lived on their own, and three siblings still lived with their parents. One of them, L, has polio and has difficulty holding down a job. He cannot stand for too long and is unable to do strenuous work and so sells peanuts from a cart outside his house in winter and fruit juice in the summer. B does odd chores in people’s homes, like washing utensils and cleaning. She works two shifts: morning and late afternoon. K also did menial chores in a couple of households and her husband was a kabari (rag picker). Although cautious but welcoming to begin with, our presence was clearly making the family anxious. When B became especially upset after some external pictures of the house were taken, we decided to give the family some time and revisit the home later. But as we approached the house the next day, K came to see us at the door and expressed her displeasure at our presence. Their landlord had allegedly told them to vacate their home after we visited and K blamed us for the eviction.
She said, "I do not want to be rude to you all out of respect. With folded hands I request you to please leave us to our misery. We do not want to say or get anything from you people."
Some time later, we received word that H had passed away.