Untouchable

The author describes a group of "outcasts from Hindu society" (9) who live together in a colony. They live in houses made of mud and have no drainage system, so when it rains sewage runs through the streets.

An eighteen year old Hindu boy named Bakha is "in charge of the three rows of public latrines" (9). He has been working in the British barracks for three years and "has been caught by the glamor of the 'white mans' life" (9). The Tommies (slang for the British) have treated Bakha well, and he has begun to think of himself as superior to the other outcasts. He wears the clothes of the British and also uses their thin blankets, although they are not warm enough to keep him from shivering at night. When he had first seen the British barracks, "he had soon become possessed with an overwhelming desire to live their life" (11).

At night, he waits for his father to summon him to latrine duty. Bakha does not believe that his father understands the Tommies. He remembers the morning after his mother died. Even though he had been awake, Bakha's father had shouted at him as if he were trying to sleep longer out of laziness. His mother had made him tea before work and he misses some of the tasks she performed for him. But, "He didn't feel sad, however, to think that she was dead. He just couldn't summon sorrow to the world he lived in, the world of his English clothes and 'Red-Lamp' cigarettes, because it seemed she was not of that world, had no connection with it" (14).

When he goes outside, a man named Havildar Charat Singh, a famous hockey player in the 38th Dogras regiment, is waiting for him. He shouts that there are no clean latrines and orders Bakha to clean one for him. After using the latrine, Singh invites Bakha to come to visit him that afternoon, and that he will give him a hockey stick. He is impressed by Bakha's cleanliness, even though he performs such a dirty job.

As he cleans, he watches upper-caste Hindus perform their ritual ablutions, during which they bathe parts of their bodies in a specific order. Bakha remembers how much the Tommies dislike watching the Hindus bathe, and feels a similar contempt for the Hindus.

After cleaning the latrines, he shovels the refuse into a chimney. The work invigorates him, and "seemed to infuse into him a masterful instinct somewhat akin to sacrifice. It seemed as if burning or destruction was for him a form of physical culture" (21). When he is back in his hut, he sees his sister, Sohini, trying to start a fire. He says that he will help her if she gets water for them. She puts a pot on her head and leaves to get water.

Sohini goes to the caste-well where she "counted on the chance of some gentleman taking pity on her and giving her the water she needed" (22). Outcastes like her cannot touch the water because the three upper castes would then consider the water polluted. They must depend on upper caste Hindus to give them water out of charity.

A woman named Gulabo tells Sohini to go home. Gulabo is jealous of Sohini's beauty and is from a slightly higher caste. When Sohini does not respond, Gulabo calls her a "bitch" and a "prostitute" (25). She tries to hit Sohini but is stopped by a woman named Waziro. Eventually an upper caste man known as a "sepoy" (26) comes and the waiting people beg him to draw water for them. He ignores them. An old man named Kali Nath comes to draw water. As the people beg him for help, he notices Sohini. He calls her forward and fills her pitcher with water. Sohini is grateful, but uneasy at the reaction his favoritism might cause in the others. Nath tells her to come clean the courtyard of his house later that day.

As Sohini leaves, a young man named Lachman watches her go. Every time he sees her he is struck by her beauty. Nath sees Lachman watching her.

At home, Sohini's father, Lakha, berates her, Bakha, and their brother, Rakha. Lakha has a headache and the pain is causing him to bully his children. He tells Bakha to go with Sohini to watch her clean the courtyard. As they walk, they come upon two men, Ram Charan and Chota, and Rakha. As they tease each other and talk about the upcoming marriage of Ram Charan's sister, two wealthy young boys walk by. They invite the boys to a hockey game later that afternoon, hoping the wealthy boys will bring them hockey sticks. Bakha is jealous that the boys are on their way to school; he wishes he knew how to read and write. The Untouchables are not allowed to go to school, however.

Bakha asks one of the boys if he will give him a daily lesson in exchange for a small sum. The boy agrees to begin that afternoon. Bakha walks towards the courtyard and enjoys the city, which he has not seen in a month, given the business of his job sweeping the latrines. He buys a pack of cigarettes and pretends that he is a rich man as he smokes. Then Bakha accidentally bumps into an upper caste man, who is horrified that he has been touched by an untouchable. He curses Bakha and a crowd gathers to witness the abuse as the man screams that he will have to go home and bathe. The crowd gathers around him, screaming insults. The man Bakha touched hits him and knocks off his turban, then disappears into the crowd. A Muhammadan driver known as a tonga-wallah comforts Bakha and tells him to put his turban back on as he watches the dispersing crowd.