Keya Sarkar: The money motivator

PEOPLE LIKE THEM

In Santiniketan, as elsewhere, if you are to construct a house you get in touch with a contractor (unless of course you too wish to live in the new ugly apartment blocks which come pre constructed by the builders).

The contractor, you assume, would be a boss man who would coordinate the mason, the carpenter and the plumber. In reality, the 15 per cent on the total bill that he claims as his supervision fee is basically to come by in the morning to inform you that no work can be undertaken because none of the labour has reported for work.

Or to tell you that work has to stop as no sand or cement can be bought. Why? Because the shops remain closed on Tuesday and Wednesday and he cannot plan beforehand.

If you are not planning construction or some major renovation, then life is far more interesting. Since none of the masons or painters or plumbers can be contacted by phone, one has to wait for the day when someone who knows any one of these guys happens to drop by for a chat. Or the other option is to drive around in a cycle rickshaw and enquire at the "adda" joints of "mistris".

When you get lucky enough to contact someone, you explain what the job is and try and figure out the time and cost. The answer you get will depend on whether the man in question is a Bengali or an adivasi.

The former genuinely believes that the government should be responsible for his being. The fact that he has to work for a living is bad enough. And then to talk of accountability! If he is an adivasi you will go on a philosophical trip. He will tell you how "it all depends".

When the work does start, the progress will depend on the season, the month and the phase of the moon! The sultry summer days are bad for work.

The monsoons often do not allow one to even come for work. And in winter the days are so short. If I didn't know the number of gods and goddesses before I got here, I know now. There are some who absolutely forbid work and some who just about tolerate it. And there are others who prescribe so many feasts that it becomes impossible to report for work even the next day!

Friends in Santiniketan have talked to me about how these people are content. Their needs are simple and they do not feel the need to work just because they happen to get work. But having spent many years in Mumbai, I could not come to terms with people who could not be motivated by money.

I needed to fix a gate and had called in a few "mistris". But as luck would have it there was some important work-stopping festival the very next day. Since I didn't want the gate left halfway for security reasons, I thought I would use the bonus incentive.

I explained to the two "mistris" who were working that if they were to come by the next day, the day of the festival, then I would give them double the daily wage for that day.

I must confess I was a trifle tense the next morning, much like companies are after increment or bonus day I suppose. The men did arrive and I chuckled to myself. So the money motivator does work I, thought.

My gate would, it was estimated, take five days to finish. Four days had gone by without a hitch and I was beginning to gloat. But the fifth day I realised my gate was not to be. Normally in by 8.30 in the morning, the motivated "mistris" were obviously not showing up.

And that is how it was for days, an unsolved mystery. Till one day I met one of them on the road. "What happened, why didn't you come that day?" I hollered. He gave me a sheepish grin and said, "You had already paid for an extra day."