From the Dalit Freedom Network

My life cleaning Delhi's sewers

Originally broadcast on “From Our Own Correspondent”, Saturday, 7 February, 2009 at 1130 GMT on BBC Radio 4.

India may be spending billions on its high tech space programme but its spending on sewers is decidedly low tech and deadly, reports the BBC’s Rupa Jha.
I will never forget the sight of that thin short man, wearing nothing but cotton underpants, strapped into a harness arrangement, disappearing down into a dark manhole beneath the streets of my home city.
The diameter of the hole was so small that he bruised himself while slipping down.
Inside was a dark well, full of sewage, with giant cockroaches sticking to the wall.
Before he climbed in I asked him his name. I was really surprised when he answered flamboyantly, “Rewa Ram – Son of Khanjan.”
I thought: “He must be educated, seems to speak some English.” But when I asked him, he said: “No. I’m a complete illiterate.”
When I looked down that hole into the drains of Delhi, the smell was overwhelming. Down below, he was coughing, trying hard to keep breathing.
He was struggling to clear a blockage with his bare hands.

Dizzying smell
All of a sudden, a pipe protruding into the drain above his head started spewing out water and human faeces that poured over his body.
I began to feel dizzy just looking down into this mess.
My nostrils were filled with that obnoxious smell, a bit like of rotten eggs. I wanted to vomit. I felt weak and wanted to run away from the smell.
I was born and brought up in India and for the past 15 years I have lived in Delhi, the capital city of one of the world’s most rapidly growing economies. I am a member of the growing, upwardly mobile middle class.
I suppose I represent the “roaring Tiger” India, but I am regularly shocked and surprised when I see the struggle for dignity that so many face here.
Literally beneath the glitter of the big city lies a vast network of these dark drains, where so many Rewa Rams are struggling with toxic gases and human waste. They suffer disease and discrimination in return for cleaning the city’s sewage system.

Deadly job
Rewa Ram is just one of thousands of sanitation workers in India who work hard to keep the cities, towns and villages clean.
Most of them come from the community of lower caste Dalits as they are known, or untouchables.
Health experts working in the field told me most of these workers would die before their retirement because of the poor health and safety conditions they work in. Their life expectancy is thought to be around 10 years less than the national average.
Dr Ashish Mittal, an occupational health consultant, did a survey of the working conditions of sewage workers.
He told me most of the workers suffer from chronic diseases, respiratory problems, skin disorders and allergies. He said they are constantly troubled by headaches and eye infections. I am not surprised.
Rewa Ram was pulled out when he started feeling dizzy from the toxic fumes in the manhole.
They were thick with a mixture of methane and hydrogen sulphide, both considered potentially fatal by the health experts.
He needed water to clean himself, just a splash on his face could have made him feel better.
His colleagues started banging on doors of the rich neighbourhood where he was working. Nobody opened their gate.

Ancient sewers
Human rights activists and trade unionists I have talked to ask a simple question. If the government of India can spend billions on its space programme, if Delhi can reach all its targets for the beautification of the city in time for the 2010 Commonwealth Games, including an underground train system, then why can’t the sewage system be modernised?
Why does it still rely on sending practically naked men down below the streets to clear the drains with their bare hands, being exposed to noxious gases which could take them to a premature grave?
I put these questions to the authorities.
The reply? “We are trying our best.”
It did not really feel good enough after what I had seen.
The law courts have passed several orders banning human beings from going into the sewage system unless it is an emergency.
In Delhi it looks as if every day is an emergency in the sewers.

Smell of death
I asked Rewa Ram, still breathless and covered with the sewage from the drain: “How do you feel about having to do this work?”
With folded arms, he replied: “I am not educated, I come from a very poor family of untouchables. What else can I expect?
“At least I have a government job and I am able to feed my children. I get into this hell everyday but then this is my job.
“I live smelling death, but it is fine.”
But is it fine? Why should he expect so little just because he comes from a lower caste and is not educated?
How can our so-called civil society be so indifferent to the millions like him? I, for one, am left feeling guilty.

Easy food

I used my new crock pot for the first time this past weekend to make some killer chili. Everyone probably knows how to make chili, but I thought I'd share it anyway.

1 pound ground beef, browned
1 chopped onion
1 chopped green bell pepper
1 chopped carrot
also whatever veggies are in the fridge
2 cans diced tomatoes, or the equivalent in fresh tomatoes
1/3 cup water
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
lots of chili powder
cayenne
cumin

Brown beef, add onion and saute. Add all ingredients, put in crock pot for 4 hours on low. I just ate the last of the chili and I liked it so much I had to write a blog about it. We also made blue corn jalapeno bread, which was great crumbled in it. Add lots of cheese.

New things

I had every intention of writing numerous blogs about my trip to India. I still plan on it. From time to time I get out the journal I wrote in while I was there, and dive back into my daily thoughts and feelings and happenings. Hopefully soon I will share them here.

In the meantime, I am playing violin again. I go through musical periods every few months, where I get super motivated to play instruments. I sold my guitar last September, a move made during a clearly non-musical period of time, and one that I somewhat regret. It has forced me to pick up the violin again, though, something I've wanted to do for a while. I'm excited. In messing around with it tonight, I'm realizing how much I love it, and also how my fingering has benefited from playing guitar. I'm so much stronger and quicker and more flexible after stretching my hand around a huge fret board for years.

I am also taking a 10-week Spanish class starting next week. I am very excited about this. I really loved learning Urdu in India, and was reminded how much I love language. It's such a powerful thing. It can instantly connect people, or it can instantly create a barrier. The class is through an adult education program, and is very basic. But I'm looking forward to exploring another language, and also to doing something other than just work.

Running. I am taking every opportunity I can to run, and occasionally to get my butt kicked by Billy Blanks Boot Camp videos. Running has been sort of revolutionary in my life in the past year. That's a whole blog in itself. I am trying to keep at it, and am signing up for races so I have something to work toward. The cold is a huge deterrent, but thankfully there is typically at least one day a week warm enough to run outside.

Luke. I am doing a Bible study on the book of Luke with three other gals. This was the first week, and so far I am really enjoying the study.

These are more or less the newer things going on. I always want to be better about blogging.

The pumpkin sauce, by the way, was delicious, but not when mixed with anything else. I do not recommend it unless you're just going to eat it with a spoon and a glass of milk. Not a bad idea, actually.