Article: Pressing Concerns

I once rented an apartment in a pleasant residential block of flats in Dwarka sub-city, National Capital Region.

The residents’ homes there were all equipped with washing machines that took care of the laundry. However, that still left the problem of the ironing.

The busy working couples inhabiting the society seldom had the leisure or the stamina to perform this seemingly minor chore at the close of an often exhausting day. And as neatly pressed clothes were essential for a smart turnout in the office, the Residents Welfare Association misguidedly gave the contract for providing this service to a burly, surly native of eastern UP.

Barrel-chested, with an incipient paunch to match, this gentleman gave the impression of resenting this employment as being beneath him. This was much too low; he was destined for greater things – which unfortunately never materialized (like Achche Din).

This resentment found expression in his “work”; he accepted clothes for pressing grudgingly as one taking on an onerous burden. My sharp-eyed wife quickly realized that he was not actually ironing the clothes given, but merely folding them and stacking them one on top of the other, before returning these with peremptory demands of inflated payment. His rates for ironing clothes were much higher than those charged by other presswallahs outside the apartment complex.

When his habit of not actually ironing the clothes given to him was pointed out, he flatly denied this. His favorite defense was that everyone in the residential complex were happy with his excellent services, we were the only ones to complain, ergo, the fault lay with us. We were (as per him) wasting his time by carping needlessly and too blind to appreciate that he’d deigned to accept our custom.

In other words; I’m OK – You’re NOT OK!

The society was a clubby one. Despite the demands of juggling careers and family, there was a fair amount of social interaction among the residents. So it didn’t take them long to compare notes.

He’d indiscriminately used the same argument on anyone who’d ever complained about his unsatisfactory services. And there were quite a lot of dissatisfied customers. In fact, it was soon discovered that all the residents of the apartment complex had experienced this same situation.

The result? This gentleman’s contract for providing ironing services was not renewed after his year was up. He blustered indignantly about the gross ingratitude of those he’d served so well, but this didn’t cut much ice with the RWA. He was given his marching orders and left shortly afterwards, trailing clouds of self-righteous resentment.  He probably became a pakora seller later, in keeping with Prime Ministerial directives.

I can’t help thinking that this same tactic is being employed to some degree by the present Government of India. Establish a false norm of illusory performance and attack all those who see through this flimsy ploy as deviants of some kind (Anti-Nationals!), who don’t conform to the “normal” majority who seemingly approve of all the really great things that are going on – and therefore must be “right”.

It remains to be seen if the Government will be any more successful than the former presswallah in retaining its position.