India, July 22 -- The residence consists of two moderately sized rooms. The first is the workshop, albeit its one side is dedicated to a cooking counter with a gas range. The other is the windowless bedroom, crammed with clothes, and linen, and many, many small plastic bags-this musty smelling room is too hot in the summer, but stays snugly warm in the winter.

Zafrul lives in the rented apartment with Jamshed, who is much older than him. Both men describe themselves as freelance "artificial jewellery karigar." They work as a team. Their house forms a small part of the surviving portions of an old haveli, here in Purani Dilli''s Chandni Mahal street.

The haveli's stately gateway opens into a courtyard. The courtyard is ringed by a storey...