Joy and His Brother

Joy is in his mid-twenties. He is the youngest of a large family and grew up in a small village about five hours southeast of Calcutta. He speaks English beautifully and after coming to Calcutta when he was nineteen or twenty, took some courses and then found a job in an office downtown. He commutes there every morning in the very crowded but surprisingly efficient Calcutta buses and electric trams. In the evening he attends night classes or plays a little cricket; when we were there, he often played with the kids. He loves Calcutta, loves the liveliness and sense of opportunity in the city. “The village is beautiful, but very limited. There’s no way to earn money. If we want to get ahead, we have to be in the city. The schools are better here, there’s electricity and more choice of food. Life is better here.”