Banav Bibi sorts through the trash she has just collected from House No. 292 in the D block of Sunder Nagar, an upscale neighborhood in Delhi, India. Plastic bag, yes. It will sell for 5 rupees (about 10 cents) per kilogram. Scraps of paper, yes, 1.25 rupees per kilogram. Glass, 1 rupee. Tin, 2 rupees. A bag of chips, no. Some kinds of plastic just won't sell. Bibi's 16-year-old son, Qurban Ali, has found a calculator. He hands it to her, then he takes it back when she's not interested. He looks it over, pressing buttons to see if it works. It does. He moves the gadget around in his hand with a hint of fascination, then he throws it in with the rest of the recyclables they will sell. He has no other use for it.
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