Guest
|
 Posted: Sat Aug 16, 2008 8:01 pm Post subject: In the face of prosperity india's invisible men |
 |
|
The article below explains why an indian couple in america recently had
their aarse firmly kicked in court and now are in prison for mistreating
two female servants in their home. They treated them as they would
servants in india.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/15/world/asia/15india.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin
"India may be changing at a disorienting pace, but one thing remains
stubbornly the same: a tendency to treat the hired help like chattel,
to behave as though some humans were born to serve and others to be
served."
MUMBAI, India -- Here in the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower, what you think
of the new India may depend on whether you are the person having soap
squeezed onto your hands or the person squeezing the soap.
In every men's washroom at the Taj is a helper. As you approach the
sink, he salutes you. Before you can turn on the tap, he does it for
you. Before you can apply soap, he presses the dispenser. Before you
can get a towel, he dangles one. As you leave, he salutes you again
and mutters: "Right, sir. O.K., sir. Thank you, sir."
Step outside, and you see sedans reeking of new affluence. Inside are
drivers, many of them asleep because they work 20-hour shifts, waking
up at 6 a.m. to catch a train, taking the boss to and from work, then
to his dinner, then to drinks, then dropping him off at home at 1 a.m.
and catching a taxi to go back to the tenements.
At 1 a.m. back in the boss's apartment, the hallways are often
littered with servants and sweepers who work inside by day but sleep
outside by night. They learn to sleep on cold tile, with tenants
stepping over them when returning from evenings out.
India may be changing at a disorienting pace, but one thing remains
stubbornly the same: a tendency to treat the hired help like chattel,
to behave as though some humans were born to serve and others to be
served.
"Indians are perhaps the world's most undemocratic people, living in
the world's largest and most plural democracy," Sudhir Kakar and
Katharina Kakar, two well-known scholars of Indian culture, wrote in a
recent book, "The Indians: Portrait of a People."
The subject, usually overlooked, has been raised by a provocative new
film depicting India from a servant's-eye view. The movie, "Barah
Aana," by Raja Menon, tells the story of three migrants to Mumbai from
the ailing villages of northern India. They work as a chauffeur, a
waiter and a security guard, sending most of their earnings home. They
are heroes in their villages, but in Mumbai they are invisible men,
enduring the callousness that comes with being an accessory to other
people's lives.
MUMBAI, India -- Here in the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower, what you think
of the new India may depend on whether you are the person having soap
squeezed onto your hands or the person squeezing the soap.
In every men's washroom at the Taj is a helper. As you approach the
sink, he salutes you. Before you can turn on the tap, he does it for
you. Before you can apply soap, he presses the dispenser. Before you
can get a towel, he dangles one. As you leave, he salutes you again
and mutters: "Right, sir. O.K., sir. Thank you, sir."
Step outside, and you see sedans reeking of new affluence. Inside are
drivers, many of them asleep because they work 20-hour shifts, waking
up at 6 a.m. to catch a train, taking the boss to and from work, then
to his dinner, then to drinks, then dropping him off at home at 1 a.m.
and catching a taxi to go back to the tenements.
At 1 a.m. back in the boss's apartment, the hallways are often
littered with servants and sweepers who work inside by day but sleep
outside by night. They learn to sleep on cold tile, with tenants
stepping over them when returning from evenings out.
India may be changing at a disorienting pace, but one thing remains
stubbornly the same: a tendency to treat the hired help like chattel,
to behave as though some humans were born to serve and others to be
served.
"Indians are perhaps the world's most undemocratic people, living in
the world's largest and most plural democracy," Sudhir Kakar and
Katharina Kakar, two well-known scholars of Indian culture, wrote in a
recent book, "The Indians: Portrait of a People."
The subject, usually overlooked, has been raised by a provocative new
film depicting India from a servant's-eye view. The movie, "Barah
Aana," by Raja Menon, tells the story of three migrants to Mumbai from
the ailing villages of northern India. They work as a chauffeur, a
waiter and a security guard, sending most of their earnings home. They
are heroes in their villages, but in Mumbai they are invisible men,
enduring the callousness that comes with being an accessory to other
people's lives. |
|
