Ward No. 64, Yerawada, has approximately 15,000 residents, out of which a majority live at the Laxminagar slums. This is where garbage from the bins spills over and begins its process of rotting at people's doorsteps; the stench from the toilet pervades not only the cooking area but also lodges itself permanently in the entire space. The slum dwellers' immunity to all this can only be attributed to Nature's way of making one adapt to one's circumstances.

Public toilets are simply a sham. For the drains do not work and overflow perennially. If one has to use them, one has to cross the seeping drain water - the breeding grounds for infection and disease - to enter.

Filth, stench, water shortage and addictions are constant factors that are punctuated with the few and far between festivals... the perfect excuse to get away from the uncomfortable realities and live a life that for a few moments resembles a normal one.

But despite being dragged into the cesspool of a sub-human existence, life goes on. Right next to the garbage bin is a little board that advertises the services of a beauty parlour. Veronica Shelke runs this parlour from her jhopadpatti. In a small eight-by-10-feet room, she has two chairs and a wall-to-wall mirror. Says she, ``I get three to four customers daily and on festivals, maybe 10 to 12.'' Shelke started with an investment of Rs 3,000 and nets in 2,000 to 4,000 a month.