Madrasi

My first job, Ranchi.

I was supposed to meet my new colleagues, for the first time, in the foyer of a hotel. I was supposed to meet a Bangali and a Sardar. The Bangali was also a new recruit of the company. This plan was made because the company did not have an office yet and the Sardar's house itself was the 'office'.

When I entered the foyer and asked for the Sardar at the reception desk, they had no clue. The Bangali was already there. He overheard me and came and introduced himself to me. Now both of us waited for the Sardar to arrive.

He walked in after the Bangali and I had the time to get to know each other and have a chat. As the Bangali and I introduced ourselves to him, there was some confusion in the Sardar's. I noticed it and wondered why.

After some days, the Sardar told me the reason for his confusion. When he saw a dark, snub nosed, short man and a fair, long nosed (Aryan, according to him) and tall man, it was “obvious” to him that these were the “Madrasi” (even though I was from Mysore, Karnataka) and the Bangali respectively.

When the introduction was the other way round, of course, there was confusion.

This is something that I came across very often in those days and those parts*.

*See “Mysore? Dirty Place!"