When I got to Hyd the day before, almost the very first thing my mom spoke about is one Wilson getting the Magsaysay award for his immense work against manual scavenging. She seemed visibly impacted and went into some of the stories from him she'd read about.
And then I see this in today's paper: (Sukrutha is her :)
The grammar is skewed and the editor missed out a line where she'd spoken about basic human dignity, but the fact that she felt strongly enough to shoot off a letter to the editor (and neither my dad or I even knew). In fact we didn't get the newspaper today for some reason, and I just happened to pick it up from a coffee shop I'd visited this morning. So so glad I did.
And then I saw also the difference between knowing something theoretically and having experienced it personally......she was telling me about when and how manual scavenging was a way of life when they were young, which is why she could feel for what Wilson had accomplished.
And another thing she could recall was how back then, the only attire for girls was lehenga jacket or lehenga odni, and those who dared to wear the salwar were teased saying 'why are you dressing like the metrani ( which was the manual scavenger community). That's how biased and racist or casteist our society was (or is? ) .
Another Salute Wilson, your effort and accomplishment is deeply felt indeed!
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