The legacy of the British Raj is still present in our country. The British had Indians as their servants, and today, the servant master system is still present. To work as a servant is generally frowned upon in this country, as it simply means a life where you need to throw self respect out of the window and keep muttering ” Haan Saab ” and ” Ji Saab” for the duration of your life. Nearly everybody has a domestic servant, and they come pretty cheap, unlike the United Kingdom or some other countries, where the cost of hiring labour is so steep that people prefer to do work on their own. And when I say servants, the humble Bai is one, but I’m also referring to the peons/ personal assistants. One of my friends happened to tell me a funny story on the train the other day. His father’s friend, some ten or fifteen years ago, used to pay 750 bucks as monthly salary to his peon in the office when the standard rate was 500. What was the other 250 for ? Take a guess… It was for the man to vent out his frustration on his servant as and when he deemed fit.
I’ve even seen a guy who has a personal servant to tie his watch and shoe laces. And that man is fit and healthy, and not some invalid. Do you call this luxury, or sheer laziness on the part of the man ?
We treat our servants like dirt. We whistle to waiters in the restaurant, and motion with our fingers for them to come to our table. Never will we ever able to see them as equals. It is one reason that socialism won’t ever work in India, not in the next century. The gap is too wide to bridge. And part of the blame lies with the servants, for they do not stand up in face of such treatment. On the other hand, they believe it to be a way of life, and sometimes think that things are amiss if they are not shouted upon.
Somebody once said ” Judge a man by the way he treats his inferiors, and not his equals ” If one does look at that say, half of the Indian middle and upper class would be found guilty.