Veeresh Malik's Manual scavenging and Cartoon.

Hello Mr.Malik, we met on  board Enrica  Lexie and have been meeting on and off on these columns. To be frank, my English seems to be too poor and I find it difficult to understand you. I could not get any connection between the hapless night-soil careers and the cartoon Shankar Pillai had drawn some sixty odd years back in the prestigious ( you will not agree with it being prestigious) cartoon weekly of that time. I had not seen the cartoon then as our village library got only Malayalam news papers and magazines and I generally hurried from my college as soon as the classes were over back home. Only when I left my village for Bombay and later to other places I started to see the magazine and then I liked it much even though I am far from a 'sahib' but enjoyed a bit of fun when Shankar laughed at politicians. Even now I look at all cartoons. My favourite used to be Lakshman. Abu I could not understand much. Vijayan I liked. And like that many more. I would say Shankar's Weekly was to India what was Punch to England. I do no agree with your contention that it was the weekly for 'sahibs and memsahibs'. It was for any one with a liking for humour and laughter. Do you say that P.G.Wodehouse is  only for upper echelons of the literate people. I differ with you sir.
I have not seen the cartoon when it was published. Only now when Hindu news paper reproduced it I happen to see it. Have you looked at carefully? Is Nehru aiming his whip at the back of Ambedkar who is sitting on the snail? To me it looks that Nehru who is slightly bent forward is aiming his whip at the snail and not at Ambedkar. Ambedkar is riding the snail with a whip in his hand but looks as if he is having no intention of whipping the snail. On the snail it is written constitution. What I made out was that the work on constitution was not moving fast to the satisfaction of Nehru who was getting impatient. Seeing that Ambedkar was not urging the persons entrusted with drafting the constitution Nehru himself was urging them. There is absolutely anything which is derogatory at all. If at all it is laughing at Nehru's impatience in getting works done. The present day MPs have absolutely no sense of humour or capacity to understand when someone pokes fun at.
And why this nightsoil bearers? Long back in late fifties while I was in Ajmer I have seen those poor hapless ladies carrying night-soil on their head. Afterwards I have never seen it. I don't know how you came across the girl whose parents were night-soil bearers here in Bangalore. Was she telling of her past or of presents time? And you imply that  the system of carrying night soil on head is still existing, and question is how many are still doing. I have been in many cities after fifty eight. Bombay, Ajmer, Jaipur, Delhi and so on. Other than in Ajmer in the late fifties I have not seen any scavenger carrying night soil on head. For the last nineteen years I am here in Bangalore and have not seen any night soil careers. I don't know in which area of Bangalore you met that girl?