When he came to fully realize exactly what his parents and older brother did for a living, and what it likely meant for his own future, Bezwada Wilson says he was so angry he contemplated suicide.
His family members, and his broader community, were manual scavengers, tasked with cleaning by hand human excrement from dry latrines at a government-run gold mine in southern India.
“In my growing up years, I was made to feel different from the rest in school.
I was not allowed to laugh at jokes, and caste slurs were thrown at me,” Mr. Bezwada said in an interview on a recent evening in Delhi.
“All I wanted to know then was why was my community different, and how could I make them equal to the others?”
Persons:
Bezwada Wilson, Bezwada, ” Mr, ”
Locations:
India, Delhi