Aarti had many dreams over the years - such as becoming a lawyer, education for her children, enough money to move out of Varanasi …

‘But this is my destiny … I live for my children now.’

Her oldest child, a daughter aged 14, looks after the three sons whilst Aarti and her husband work as street sweepers. Sons are desired - with arranged marriages the groom’s family collects a dowry from the bride’s family. Aarti’s, unusually, was a love marriage - and that passion continues to burn in her eyes when she talks about her husband.

No one in the family has any formal ID, and the children do not go to school - but each day she wishes for something different, something better not for herself but for her children.