DISHONESTY IN INDIA
Ideal low concerning work. Bribery. On the railway.
Dishonest ticket clerks. Servants' commission.
Door-attendant's tip. Gifts from native merchants. Changes
in modern India. The Indian "growler" disappearing. Wearing
shoes. Cloth coats of English cut. The daily paper. The
villagers' clothing.
Most Indians have a low ideal concerning work. If six or seven are
working together they take turns, and it is rare to see more than the
minority in active employment at any given time. Even those who are
set over them do not expect a fuller response. It is also rare to find
anyone (except a few first-class artizans) who takes pride in his
work, or who can be trusted to do it well except under supervision.
Even in a household it is rare to find a servant (except a few very
capable head-servants) who can be depended on to maintain a
satisfactory standard of work, unless he is frequently reminded
whenever he slackens off. In teaching lads a trade, the majority of
them need to be shown over and over again how to do a thing before
they grasp it. And even after skill has been acquired, it is not
until they have felt the inconvenience of being called upon to re-do
what has been done badly, that they realise that it is best to do it
well at first.
Hardly any transaction, great or small, is completed in heathen India
without something of the nature of a bribe taking place, and the
system is so almost universal that it seems as if it is likely to be a
long time before it is eradicated. Hardly anyone will do anything for
anybody without the stimulus of a reward of some sort. Many Indian
officials will not discharge even the ordinary duties of their office
without frequent "refreshers" from the people amongst whom they work.
It is naturally the poorest and weakest who suffer most from this form
of oppression.
On the railway there is almost unlimited scope for this. The doors on
to the platform of the waiting-rooms, or rather sheds, which are
provided for native passengers are generally only opened just as the
train comes in. The rush is often great, and the number of passengers
is constantly in excess of the vacant places in the train. The
official who unlocks the door leading on to the platform can easily
favour certain persons, and keep back others, with very little risk of
detection, and it is the traveller who has been most ready with his
"palm oil" who gets through the gate promptly, and so stands a good
chance of getting a seat in the train.
In selling tickets to third-class passengers there is vast scope for
cheating. They are mostly illiterate, and many of them inexperienced
in the ways of travel. A dishonest clerk can easily discriminate the
kind of passenger he is dealing with, and when he thinks it safe to do
so, can quote the price of the ticket as being something over and
above its real value, and then pocket the balance. The price printed
on the tickets is no guide to the majority of third-class Indian
travellers. In the course of a long day a dishonest ticket clerk, by
means of small irregularities, can add substantially to his income.
Detectives, disguised as poor passengers, are sometimes successful in
bringing a clerk of this character to book. The goods and parcels
traffic also furnishes a wide field for overcharge, and also of
vexatious delay when the stimulus of a commission on the transaction
is lacking.
If a servant is sent to fetch a _tonga_ from the bazaar, more often
than not he will make the driver give him a _pice_ or two, under the
threat of otherwise not giving him any more of his master's custom.
One of the many servants of the average Indian bungalow sits at the
entrance of the front verandah, and he is the channel of communication
between the outside world and the powers within. Door-bells, for some
inscrutable reason, are practically unknown in the Englishman's
bungalow. If the door-attendant happens to be absent, the visitor
shouts "Boy," a word which in Western India is applied, not very
happily, to any household servant of whatever age.
If the caller is a _sahib_, the door-attendant will quickly attend to
his wants and will bring him into rapid communication with his master.
But supposing you are a poor native, wanting to see the sahib on some
matter of business, unless you are lucky enough to waylay him as he
drives in or out, which he may possibly resent, you stand a poor
chance of getting near him unless you are prepared to tip the
door-keeper. It is to be feared that even Hindus, coming in an honest
spirit of inquiry to a missionary's house, have been choked off by an
official of this nature. It is of the utmost importance that the front
verandah of a mission-house should be freely accessible to whoever
likes to step into it.
District officers when they are on tour and living in camp, and who
are honestly anxious to be within reach of everybody who has a real
grievance, have sometimes great difficulty in preventing their good
intentions being frustrated by some of the subordinate officials who
form an inevitable part of their retinue.
Native merchants who deal with Englishmen have the idea so ingrained
that bribes are a necessary part of business, that they imagine that
the way to secure custom, or at any rate more favourable terms, is to
make large offerings of fruit and sweetmeats at Christmas, and
such-like auspicious times. One of the results of this is that most
things in the Indian markets, and even in some of the shops, grow
rather dearer just before Christmas, and the notion is spreading
amongst Hindus and others that it is a season for presents and
feasting. Some of these traders may even proceed to hint vaguely about
financial percentages, if they think that acceptance is at all likely.
It is to be hoped that the tradition that Englishmen in positions of
trust are proof against such suggestions, is one that may always be
maintained.
Amongst the signs which indicate that India, for better or worse, is
beginning to move with the times, may be noted an increase in
refinement, a greater regard for outward appearance, and the gradual
introduction of things which conduce to greater comfort. The two-horse
conveyance, called a _shiggram_, which used to represent the "growler"
of Poona City, has almost disappeared. It was certainly a most
comfortless kind of carriage, something like what a growler would be
if you removed all its lining and padding, and with very narrow seats.
In its place victorias and landaus have become almost universal, and
those belonging to private owners are often well built and nicely
kept. The number of people wearing shoes of English pattern rapidly
increases, together with the use of socks. The Hindu Widows' Home has
established quite a thriving business in the manufacture of socks and
stockings for men. Indians have been accustomed to go barefoot, not
because they prefer it, but partly because to wear shoes was, like
the umbrella, a mark of distinction not to be assumed by everybody,
and partly because poverty forbade it. But there are times in the year
when an Indian suffers a good deal through going barefoot. In the
middle of the day in the hot weather the surface of a high-road is so
heated that an Englishman could not tread upon it at all with bare
feet, and even the hardened sole of the Indian is put to serious
inconvenience. Indians say that in the wet weather, when the roads are
often deep in soft mud, this mud gets in between the toes and is
extremely uncomfortable. And in the cold weather, the boys' bare feet
get deeply cut by the chill air of the early mornings which has
descended from frosty regions.
Masters in the better-class schools and the majority of students, the
numerous lawyers, and some shopkeepers, have taken to wearing cloth
coats, which are now almost universally of English cut, although the
native coat was very effective and convenient. Shops are arranged with
some regard to artistic effect, and many of the shops in Poona City
are now bright and attractive in appearance and contain a varied
stock. Formerly the shop was little more than the place where the
goods were stored, and there was little attempt to attract the
passer-by, and only a languid effort to attend to his wants if he
stopped to express them.
The daily paper has become a regular part of the day's routine of the
much-leisured Hindu, and the demand has greatly improved the
character of the supply, and some of the vernacular papers furnish
up-to-date news, and the leaders are written with ability. The more
stringent measures which it became necessary to put in force because
of the seditious character of many of the vernacular papers has done
much to purify the Indian press, so that while many of the papers
retain an independent line, their criticisms are couched in
sufficiently decorous language.
Even amongst the working classes there is a great advance in comfort,
especially as regards clothing. The scanty dress of the Indian arose,
not so much because of the hot climate, but because he could only
afford a few yards of calico. Now he is not only much less unclothed
than he used to be, but his garments are of better material and more
skilfully made. The Indian villager also often wears cloth coats of
English shape, but he has not made much advance as regards
cleanliness. He does not wash all over much oftener than his English
rural brother, except in the hot weather if there is a river within
reach. He rarely washes his clothes, but wears them till they are so
dirty that he can wear them no longer, and then buys new ones; and he
appears to think that this is the best arrangement.