Forgotten majority

PATNA: A child sits cross-legged on the mud floor of a dark hut. His tiny, dirty hands dip into a bowl of rice and watery lentils. Grains stick to his face as he focuses on his meal, oblivious to the harsh conditions that shape his world. Outside, the fields stretch towards the horizon, dotted with thatched huts. When the rains come, snakes from the waterlogged land slither into these homes. Some have died from snakebite here in the past. Next door, a family of seven shares a room the size of a small shop, nine-by-nine-foot. The cracked concrete roof - miraculously held together by rusted iron rods - droops in the middle. Parts of it have come loose, injuring occupants as they fell. Yet, with nowhere else to go, the family continues to live, cook and sleep under it - living in constant