The Umbrella Guy

On Saturday morning my new friend Mitali and I set out to buy a few provisions for our weekend trip to the country. We hopped in the back seat of her car and Mitali told her driver to head to the bakery down the street. This sort of thing seemed normal enough. Everybody in Mumbai has drivers. The traffic is horrendous and requires the skills of a Mario Andretti to navigate. But my confusion began to grow when I noticed another passenger in the front seat. Was he one of Mitali’s friends? I was not introduced. Huh? My perplexity was shortly resolved when we arrived at our destination in the midst of a monsoon downpour. The silent passenger suddenly sprung into action, darting from the car brandishing two colorful umbrellas. With the skill of no less than a Buckingham Palace soldier at the Changing of the Guard, he popped up the two canopy’s and all of a sudden he was at my door offering me the hilt of his multi-colored weapon. Ah hah, the umbrella guy!

People in India have servants. It is a strange concept for foreigners (even the pampered ones like myself) to fully grasp. The cost of labor in India is extremely low and in the fine tradition of outsourcing those that can afford to do so use servants to alleviate some of the stresses of everyday life. I am fortunate enough to have a driver that mitigates somewhat the frustration of the one and half to three hour (each way) commute to and from work. Thank god for Nathu, my driver, without him I would be faced with the mildly life threatening chaos of the train each morning.

I, of course, do not mean to sound pretentious or entitled. These people are obviously much more than the services that they provide. Although his English is somewhat limited, Nathu and I have had some conversations about Indian life and culture and I try to be respectful of his time and needs in determining my transport plan each day. The umbrella man also proved himself much more dynamic over the course of the weekend, rendering some amazing service, preparing the house, cooking some excellent omelettes, and attending to our every need. These people are the bedrock of the Indian service economy and through their industriousness and hardwork, illustrate the qualities that in a broader sense are driving India’s amazing growth.