Scavengers of the Night Soil

After reading an article about Scavengers of the Night Soil, in one of the leading dotcom survivors in India, I am particularly nostalgic.
In my Grandfather's home, the toilet used to be the traditional kinds of that era...a lady used to come and pick up our daily excreta and I would silently pray to god to give her the will-power to do so. On the other hand, I would also try my best efforts to stay as far from her as possible, lest the dirt flew to me!
Ironically,years later those ladies or the gentleman (Jamadaarni and Jamadaar respectively) have vanished from the metropolitan cities, and it is we who have become the scavengers !
Everytime I pick up a brush to clean my toilet, I remember the look on that woman's face.Everytime I make an effort to clean my own mess, I pray to god to give me the courage to do so !
We simply cannot even imagine the plight of these scavengers.Their living conditions are so inhuman and disease-friendly that people like you and me cannot even dream of.
Gandhiji had dreamt about removing manual scavenging and bringing these people in the mainstream of the society.
Ironically their sorry state continues till date, even after 60 years of our so-called Independence.For us and the mighty lawmakers, these people simply do not exist.
In my native home, some of pur neighbours have brought these people right into their houses, and employed them as housemaids, provided they remain hygienic. Many of our so-called educated and civilized people (which includes me) would baulk at the news and make silent notes of never going in that house again!
Our High and Mighty lawmakers are leaving no stone unturned to get the Nuclear Deal through for India, yet even today, for our civilized society, these manual scavengers do not deserve to exist, and do not merit any human respect !
For starters,we could try removing our own mental block every time we see an ex-scavenger working as a housemaid in our friend's house.
I am still trying to do it....yet, at the end of the day,as Indians, we are nothing but a society of hypocrites!