The lady who manages our household is from the Coorg district of Karnataka. Racially the Coorg do not seem to have much in common with the rest of the country, least of all with the south where they are ensconced. Legend has it that the Coorg are descendants of the remnants of Alexander’s army. Coorg is the only district in India the residents of which have the right to bear arms, and they do. They do not yet have, however, any stated ambition to go independent.
Our lady manager has been with us for twenty years now planning our meals, preparing them, managing our laundry, making sure we take our respective vitamins or, when sick, medication and generally looking after our welfare. She also answers the phone and manages all outsourced services like ironing, plumbing or electrical repair. She is literally invaluable, no one knows how much she is paid.
Over her longish association with us, a lot of her siblings, other relations and friends have moved into Bangalore and are now gainfully employed in industry and businesses ranging from healthcare to financial services as also in the armed forces. They all come in and she helps them out in various material and other ways until they get, so to speak, their green card.
In the process Coorg has become a superpower. Much as India has over the last few decades. We do it by sending our best and brightest to foreign shores . We also do it by sending the second best to call centres to answer phone calls from rich customers of rich companies from rich countries. We solve their tricky tech problems or answer stupid questions about their credit cards. We write code for software conceived and planned by others in places where local culture permits innovation to happen.
In the recent economic downturn, we as a family have taken a bit of a haircut. As has India.
One thing is clear, however. Coorg has nothing to fear. We need our manager and her cohorts. Much as the developed world needs the "people power" India provides. In spite of recent big talk of India emerging as a "Superpower", we know who calls the shots when the chips are down, as does our house manager.
Next: Superpower Two
Our lady manager has been with us for twenty years now planning our meals, preparing them, managing our laundry, making sure we take our respective vitamins or, when sick, medication and generally looking after our welfare. She also answers the phone and manages all outsourced services like ironing, plumbing or electrical repair. She is literally invaluable, no one knows how much she is paid.
Over her longish association with us, a lot of her siblings, other relations and friends have moved into Bangalore and are now gainfully employed in industry and businesses ranging from healthcare to financial services as also in the armed forces. They all come in and she helps them out in various material and other ways until they get, so to speak, their green card.
In the process Coorg has become a superpower. Much as India has over the last few decades. We do it by sending our best and brightest to foreign shores . We also do it by sending the second best to call centres to answer phone calls from rich customers of rich companies from rich countries. We solve their tricky tech problems or answer stupid questions about their credit cards. We write code for software conceived and planned by others in places where local culture permits innovation to happen.
In the recent economic downturn, we as a family have taken a bit of a haircut. As has India.
One thing is clear, however. Coorg has nothing to fear. We need our manager and her cohorts. Much as the developed world needs the "people power" India provides. In spite of recent big talk of India emerging as a "Superpower", we know who calls the shots when the chips are down, as does our house manager.
Next: Superpower Two
