This is a familiar sight in Asansol, West Bengal. The camera pans coal workers closing work for the day as the sun descends behind the massive coal hill.

Workers here have a long history of strife, strain and dissent. Commercial coal production began here during the British Raj in 1774, before which the area was full of dense forests.

There are many stories of brutal exploitation of coal workers over the centuries, and though conditions have improved somewhat after Independence and later in the post-liberalisation years, coal workers will always remain professionals who have not got their due