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The large square outside R’s home was a focal point for residents as it was much cooler than most of the one-room houses around, R’s included. He lived with his wife and three children, and was particularly proud of his two older daughters. He had grown up in the slum they currently lived in, called T Labour Camp, and his mother and two brothers also still lived there. When he married his wife 15 years ago, they moved to a one-room place of their own and began making a living by working as a cleaning man for a private housing society. R explained to us that he belonged to ‘balmiki’ scheduled caste, members of which had traditionally been relegated to work as cleaners.
His house was the only house in their neighbourhood which did not have a bathroom attached to it, but R’s wife had made a makeshift area for showers just by the front door where there was a small drain, and the family used the communal toilets. Most other houses had an upper floor serving as a second room with a bathroom, but because of rising costs of construction R decided not to have an extra floor built.