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.
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 played Classic until I was nearly level 60. It needs The Burning Crusade really for me though. I am lurking around Daggerspine again for a while, trying to get used to the changes lol
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