INDIAN EMPLOYERS OF LABOUR
Studies of Indian character. Workpeople rude to their
employers. Disobedience of female workers. The contractor's
pay-day. The labourers cheated. The caretaker of the
wood-store; the risk of fire; the caretaker's fidelity; his
cheerful poverty; the tyranny of clothes; his prayers. The
wood-cutters defrauded.
While the village church was in process of building, many valuable
opportunities occurred for getting insight into Indian character.
Various grades of men were employed, from the rough coolies who dug
the foundations, to the skilled decorator who gilded the cross on the
top of the tower. The prosperous Hindu contractor with his clerks and
overseers were constantly on the spot, and vendors of wood and stone
and other materials were frequently in the compound making bargains
about fresh supplies.
One noticeable feature amongst the working people was their rude
manner towards their employers. An English master would not have put
up with it for an hour, but it did not disturb the Indian contractor
in the least, and it was clearly only the normal state of things. Men
and women of all grades joked with their employers, laughed at them,
made game of them, and when angry abused them to their heart's
content. They on their part either took no notice, or laughed, or
abused them in return. Their masters did not resent even deliberate
disobedience. An Englishman generally expects to be obeyed at once,
and hesitation or delay on the part of the subject is looked upon as a
serious offence. But it is not customary for any Indian to obey an
order on the instant. You must always give him a little time.
The contractor's son, who acted as ganger or overseer, would find a
bricklayer's assistant, male or female, sitting in the shade doing
nothing. Women are employed largely as day-labourers, and more often
than not it was the woman who was the slowest to obey. The overseer
would tell her peremptorily to get up and go to work. The woman would
pretend not to hear him. The command would be repeated in louder
tones. The woman would continue to wear an air of supreme
indifference, and would remain sitting. Rougher words, accompanied by
threats, would at last produce the response, "All right! I am coming,"
but without any movement on the part of the woman. She would at length
leisurely resume work. The contractor appeared to be content with this
scant measure of obedience and not to expect more.
But when it came to wages day he was able to pay off old scores, but
not in coin of the realm. Almost everybody in India is paid monthly.
When a person says, "My pay is fifteen rupees," he means that this is
what he gets each month. But the contractor settled accounts when he
felt inclined, and at irregular intervals. Pay-day was a very stormy
one. Its advent was notified by the arrival of the money-box, much
resembling the old-fashioned wooden desk of the last century. The
contractor sat on the ground on a bit of old carpet, under the shade
of a grass-mat, with the box before him. The process of paying often
went on for some hours, because it was accompanied by much fierce
arguing and angry debate. The contractor, though taking large
contracts, could neither read nor write. Yet he was said to have his
complicated accounts clearly registered in his own mind. He
occasionally made a few mystic symbols to assist his memory, which no
one understood except himself. One of his sons, who was better
educated than he was, kept a record of what the labourers did, and it
was from this record that their pay was calculated.
A slight familiarity with the nature of Hindu business transactions
would lead to the conviction that the vehement protestations of many
of the labourers concerning the injustice of this record were well
founded. The contractor was bent on paying no more than he was
absolutely obliged. Considerations concerning justice, which still
have some influence even amongst indifferent Christians, would not
have entered his mind at all. His only anxiety would have been lest
his men should be exasperated to the point of leaving him. Hence the
workmen probably generally came out worst in the conflict because they
had no other means of redress, and labour is in most places abundant
in India, and vacant posts are quickly filled. The contractor, on
pay-day at least, was able to show his contempt for the underlings who
were so often rude to him, by the way in which he gave them their
money. Tossing it to them from a distance, they had to gather it up as
best they could out of the dust into which he threw it.
It is sometimes suggested that the want of truth and honesty in
business affairs amongst Hindus has been exaggerated. But it would be
scarcely possible to exaggerate the extent of what is almost
universal. If you were to ask one of themselves whether he knew of any
Hindu who could be really trusted in any matter involving money, he
would at once reply that he did not know of anybody. The day-labourer
in particular, being a defenceless mortal, rarely gets from anybody
the full sum to which he is entitled. If he is paid by the day,
bearing this in mind, he retaliates by doing as little work as
possible. Hence labourers are almost always paid by the job.
A Hindu wood-merchant took a contract for clearing a large tract of
forest land some miles beyond the Yerandawana settlement. The quantity
of wood was so great that there was no room for it in his yard in
Poona City, and so he rented a strip of land immediately opposite the
Mission bungalow as a temporary wood-store. This vast amount of dry
timber became a matter of some anxiety, because if it had caught fire
it would have roasted us out of church and home. Nor was this fear
altogether unfounded. An old man was appointed caretaker, and lived in
a frail hut in the midst of the wood. He cooked his dinner daily with
the help of a wild-looking, unclothed little daughter who shared his
humble home. They generally kindled their fire inside the hut, which
was made of most inflammable materials, and to judge by the clouds of
smoke which poured out through the coarse thatch at cooking time, the
operations were on rather a large scale. He also made a large bonfire
of refuse bits of wood outside his hut on cold nights, and there he
and a few friends would sit and toast themselves till a late hour.
This man was supposed to be paid by the month, but he told me that his
money was always doled out to him in small sums at irregular
intervals, and that he was never paid up to date. This is a common
custom to secure continuity of service. It would not matter if the
balance due was really given at the conclusion of the compact. But
this is rarely, if ever, done.
The old man watched the wood with exemplary fidelity for two years,
never absent from his post night or day, except for the briefest
possible visit to the bazaar at long intervals, to buy the few
necessities of his simple life. He then fell ill, and decided to give
up his job and return to his native village. But his employer only
gave him a portion of the final balance, on the plea that he must have
neglected his duty when he was unwell. He asked me to write a
certificate to the effect that he had stuck to his post all the time,
which I gladly did, but it was not likely to help his cause with his
heathen master.
This cheerful old man was an example of how happiness does not depend
on comfortable surroundings. The hut, which was of his own
manufacture, was of the most miserable description. Inside there was
literally only just space enough for himself and his little girl to
creep in and lie down. In the monsoon it was reduced to a pitiable
condition, the rain coming through like a sieve. The floor having
become mud, the old man was at last obliged to invest in a native
bedstead, which only costs about 8d. Having secured this luxury he was
quite content, and when he looked across at the Mission bungalow,
which, though homely enough, was a palace compared to his hut, I do
not suppose that he ever felt any wish to exchange residences.
The only thing that he could not bear was the tyranny of clothes, and
he wore even less than is usual in India. His chief joy was to sit and
bake in the morning sun, and to be coiled up in the shade during the
hottest part of the day. Now and then he came over and sat in one of
our verandahs for a little while, and he would wander into church and
gaze round with admiration. He was always smiling, or laughing, or
talking, or working, or sleeping. Though quite ignorant, he was a
devout Hindu according to his lights. It was pathetic to hear him in
his hut calling loudly on his gods, just about the time we went to
Compline. He always repeated the names of about half a dozen gods,
calling on each about twelve times or more in succession, in a rapid
but clear voice which could be distinctly heard in the bungalow. I do
not think that he ever missed his evening exercise. We tried to teach
him something of Christianity; but beyond sharing in the general
appreciation of the fabric of the church, and feeling that Christians
made good neighbours, I do not suppose that he took anything in.
Pictures he did not understand, or when we showed them to him, laughed
merrily, thinking that we meant it for a joke.
After the wood had lain there for a long time, but before the old man
retired, men were sent to cut it up for firewood. Half a dozen men
worked hard for two or three weeks, and sawed and split quite a
mountain of logs. Their day's work they measured in a primitive sort
of balance, and the tally was checked by the old caretaker. Once or
twice an agent from the wood-merchant came on the scene, and a war of
words always ensued on the subject of methods of weighing, and the
prospective payment of results. This was preparing the way for the
final scene when the men began to clamour for their money. The agent
declared that the wood had not been correctly weighed and that it must
be measured afresh, a process which would have taken some days.
Meanwhile he said he would give them a portion of what was due, and
the balance must stand over. The men on receiving their docked pay
indignantly gathered up their tools and declared that they would
return to their native village, which they did. The agent had no doubt
counted on this final result all the time, and was able to report to
his master how well he had served his interests.
The wood had no permanent guardian after the old man left. Other men
came from time to time, worked for a day or two, cut up a certain
amount of wood, and then threw up the job before they had been paid
anything at all, and thus the wood-merchant got a good deal of work
done for nothing. These are the sort of conditions under which nearly
all the poorer class of day-labourers in India have to labour.