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may lord help us, originally uploaded by Sayantan Bera.

avjivan (or new life) camp in govindpuri, south delhi. 500 families without any regular supply of water or sanitation facilities. the delhi jal board sends one or two water tankers of 15,000 litres each every day. on sundays and national holidays the water tanker doesn't come. residents use the water for drinking, bathing, washing clothes and utensils. life in this small colony revolves around water, or the paucity of it: in the 10 by 12 feet rooms that an average family stays, buckets occupy a quarter of the space; morning onwards people prepare themselves for the tanker which empties in no more than 6 minutes... kids barely 7 or 8 years old move around draped in colorful containers and winding pipes ready for the water express; water spilling out of the tanker makes for a quick bath with clothes on, peace descends once the tanker leaves all and sundry soaked ... a near surreal experience.

the kid in the foreground has on a mask of the invincible monkey god who according to myth, once moved mountains !!!