A boy sits inside a run-down public toilet in India, in which a group of pharmaceutical addicts live. India is one of the biggest producers of generic drugs worldwide. But the lack of trade monitoring has also gotten these medicines, meant to heal, into the wrong hands.

Death for 50 Rupees

A boy sits inside a run-down public toilet in India, in which a group of pharmaceutical addicts live. India is one of the biggest producers of generic drugs worldwide. But the lack of trade monitoring has also gotten these medicines, meant to heal, into the wrong hands.
Photograph by Enrico Fabian

Musings: India’s New Drug Subculture

When Enrico Fabian quit his job as an IT systems manager for a hospital in Germany to move to New Delhi, he wasn’t entirely sure what he would do when he arrived.

“I had a steady income, an easygoing job, great colleagues,” he explains, “but still there was something missing. To be honest, I wasn’t even sure I would pursue photography when the decision about India came up.”

His girlfriend at the time had received a job offer to work for an NGO in New Delhi, and Fabian saw an opportunity for change. Without any firm plans, he decided to go with her. “I sold everything I had and asked my company to give me one year of unpaid holiday.”

Nearly

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