“He gives us tea in a plastic cup, never in a glass cup. he doesn’t want to be polluted by us and says he won’t serve in a glass cup because we are from the dome caste… when we ask for water, they give it in our hands.”

Article 17 of the Indian Constitution; make the practice of untouchability a punishable offence. But Untouchability is still practised in several small villages of India. The tea stall owner in Hilsa village of Bihar asks people from Scheduled caste and Scheduled Tribe to stand back, not to touch anything and serves them tea in a plastic cup. On the other hand, customers belonging to higher caste are served tea in a glass or steel cup. These poor people survive by doing small jobs like cleaning and sweeping in the village and are being denied their right to lead a dignified life.