No-one else in this country behaved so disrespectfully towards me as they did. I was reprimanded by the landlord himself, in the same way he scolds his employees. They are one of the richest families in town, but in spite of this fact money issues became very difficult between me and them. They tried to take as much advantage as possible without any feeling of guilt.
When I did not simply accept their bills and asked for a detailed invoices with receipts, the landlord himself shouted at me, stating that he would not even need to talk to the poor person I am. Shortly after this scene, I heard a knock on the back window of my studio: Manoth the gardener handed me a small bunch of flowers.
The following day I confronted «Sir» again and told him that his statement had deeply offended me, and that in my view he had not just offended me personally, but the 98 percent of the population in this country that are much poorer than him, well over a billion people, with whom he shares this country. I told him that I would not accept the way he treated me. «I am an aristocratic person», was his response. What speaks better for this ignorance? Unlike the silent majority I raise my voice, defend myself. What about the many people who are not speaking up for fear of loosing their existence?
When he repeated his rude behaviour towards me, I asked for an apology. I could not simply tolerate it. If he could come up with an apology, he might perhaps see that his behaviour towards his employees was unjustified. And the invoice, a routine procedure in comparable contexts, was never presented to me. It is clear to me why. The ignorance of these privileged circles is one of the substantial causes of social imbalance in India. I learnt for myself how painful disregard for human dignity can be.
To demonstrate my dissociation with my host family, I decided to descend from the rickshaw or tuk-tuk a few steps before the gate, and walk the rest of the way.
