No Water Source
N and his family belonged to the Koli Community, which is recognised as a protected tribe by the government. They lived in a house divided by a wall, on the other side of which lay his brother’s house. Seven years ago, N took a loan to build his part of the house and was still paying it back. He did not build a toilet because of a lack of funds to make the initial investment, even with reimbursement from the government. Before that, he lived in Mumbai from 1991 to 2003 to become financially independent from his brother after his parents died. He worked as a daily-wage labourer and took evening classes for sewing to eventually go back to become the first tailor of his village. His father left his children about 5 acres of land which was yet to be divided between his brother and him. N was good with cattle, especially cows and bulls and milked his cow daily to provide milk for his family. N’s wife, V, worked as a coolie during the day while N took care of the cattle and ran his shop, taking regular breaks to check on his children.