Indians are masters at avoiding uncomfortable truths.
Are we racist? Yes - if only you would stop to hear the racial slurs that we cast on Blacks or even our own people with darker skins. How many dusky little girls have been taunted by the ditty "Kali kaluti, baingan luti. Bhare bazaar mein dham dham kuti." Are we elitist? Yes - in our condominium block in Gurgaon there was a vigorous debate on whether maids and drivers should be allowed to use passenger lifts - there are only two lifts, one for 'passengers' with the other one being labelled 'service lift' Are we casteist - Social distancing was just made for us. Untouchability still thrives in rural areas, however much we may like to deny it. And finally are we anti Muslim? The biggest elephant in the room today.
This blog post is not intended to recite a litany of the ills that beset Indian society. Rather, I will focus on only one that is perhaps derived from some or all of the above.
Simply put, we are a mean people. We drive past Dharavi in our air conditioned cars and turn up our noses at the whiff of fecal matter that manages to make it past the filtration system. Why doesn't the administration clear these slums for heaven's sake? Why do we pay taxes? The govt just does not do anything!
The uncomfortable truth is really very simple. If we are only willing to pay a plumber Rs 800 per day or even less in the smaller towns, he will earn around Rs 16,000 or so per month. So will a driver or a blue collar worker in a factory. On that, he has to rent a little kholi, commute, eat, provide for clothes and education for his family and hope that he does not fall ill as if he does he is not likely to able to afford decent medical care. Perhaps the family may earn a little more if his wife works in one or more of our households as a maid. Our 'low costs of labour' are like a millstone round our necks. They condemn our working classes to a life of penury amidst filth, disease and no prospects of growth. Can we seriously question why we have slums? They are the places where we condemn those who work for us to live.
We deserve our slums.
Read my nostalgic collection of short stories set in Mussoorie in the 1960s. Amazon is delivering the Kindle Edition these days. Stay safe. Click to buy
Are we racist? Yes - if only you would stop to hear the racial slurs that we cast on Blacks or even our own people with darker skins. How many dusky little girls have been taunted by the ditty "Kali kaluti, baingan luti. Bhare bazaar mein dham dham kuti." Are we elitist? Yes - in our condominium block in Gurgaon there was a vigorous debate on whether maids and drivers should be allowed to use passenger lifts - there are only two lifts, one for 'passengers' with the other one being labelled 'service lift' Are we casteist - Social distancing was just made for us. Untouchability still thrives in rural areas, however much we may like to deny it. And finally are we anti Muslim? The biggest elephant in the room today.
This blog post is not intended to recite a litany of the ills that beset Indian society. Rather, I will focus on only one that is perhaps derived from some or all of the above.
Simply put, we are a mean people. We drive past Dharavi in our air conditioned cars and turn up our noses at the whiff of fecal matter that manages to make it past the filtration system. Why doesn't the administration clear these slums for heaven's sake? Why do we pay taxes? The govt just does not do anything!
The uncomfortable truth is really very simple. If we are only willing to pay a plumber Rs 800 per day or even less in the smaller towns, he will earn around Rs 16,000 or so per month. So will a driver or a blue collar worker in a factory. On that, he has to rent a little kholi, commute, eat, provide for clothes and education for his family and hope that he does not fall ill as if he does he is not likely to able to afford decent medical care. Perhaps the family may earn a little more if his wife works in one or more of our households as a maid. Our 'low costs of labour' are like a millstone round our necks. They condemn our working classes to a life of penury amidst filth, disease and no prospects of growth. Can we seriously question why we have slums? They are the places where we condemn those who work for us to live.
We deserve our slums.
Read my nostalgic collection of short stories set in Mussoorie in the 1960s. Amazon is delivering the Kindle Edition these days. Stay safe. Click to buy
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