Raju, Munna & Aslam were together for as long as they remembered. They did not like each other much, but their work required them to be in each other’s regular company. They were scrap pickers. They paid regular visits to the industrial areas spread in Gurgaon, Faridabad, Delhi and Noida, fill their lorries with unattended scrap and deliver it to their boss, who further supplied it to the big shot industrialists to melt the metal and manufacture brand new products.

Diwali was around the corner and Delhi was buzzing with late night movement of life. On Diwali eve, the trio decided to call it off a little bit early and take a metro trip back to their home in Shahadra, where they had rented a shop as it was cheap and there was no time bondage to come and go. They stopped work at 9 and bought some beers just before the closing time of the liquor shop. Continue reading →