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The restaurant is a crowded hole in the wall with the typical crumbling walls - a corrugated tin roof. Sirdarji crossed legs making chapatis, the waiting boy taking a filthy cloth off the floor to wipe the plate. The man at the next table prepares for his meal with deliberate care. He has brought his own brass bowls and tray and carefully arranges them in front of him. The serving boy brings a plate of rice and dumps it onto the brass tray. The man inspects it carefully with three fingers of his right hand, satisfies himself of its purity, and takes a small paper bag from his pocket containing a white powder, and sprinkles it on top of the rice. Pours some ghee from one of the brass bowls on top of it. He then beings a private ceremony dipping his fingers in the ghee, making little mounds of rice on two sides of the main pile of rice completes a few more gestures and then presses his hands in prayer above the tray, bowing his head. No one gives him a glance, he conducts his worship amidst a crowd, oblivious. All life here is spent in the midst of a crowd.

He smokes Indian style the cigarette between the second and third fingers of a clenched fist. To flick the ash he periodically snaps his fingers loudly. 'In a fashion and precision more German than Indian.

144

Dilip lost his father and mother at an early age. He works as a temporary page in the Photo Division. He makes 80 Rs. ($10) a month including overtime (10 in the morning to 8 at night). He must work 3 years as a temporary page before he can qualify for permanent page (Rs. 175 about $23). 80 Rs a month: 20 for rent, he lives far away and must take a bus to work 25 p each way: 15 Rs. for bus, which leaves 45 Rs. for the month to live on, food, clothing, entertainment, etc. - 1.50 Rs. per day (80 cents). He eats 2 slices of bread in the morning, and has tea. He cannot afford lunch so goes the whole day with only one cup of tea in the afternoon, fixes his meal when he gets home late at night, chapatis, dal, and a vegetable. He does not like rice. He gets up at five AM, goes out to get milk for tea. Does exercise, bathes, rubs his body with mustard oil, does worship to Durga, fixes his breakfast, eats and goes to work. Since he comes home late at night, about 9, he can never go out unless the next day is Sunday (work week is 6 days a week, except 2nd Saturday). He lives in one room, with abed, table, chair. Has 3 shirts, 3 pairs of pants, one coat, one pair of shoes. He is always neat in appearance, speaks some English, is efficient and alert in his job. He has some artistic ambitions towards painting but is unable to pursue this because his whole life is involved in getting enough to exist. People live on such narrow substance here in India. For the single person it is very difficult.. The joint family usually has several wage earners which make it somewhat easier, plus the physical factor of knowing there is always someone to care for you if you