Swatting Flies in India

Swatting Flies in India

Andrea Serrahn

I stay in a local hotel, 30 kilometres from the Pakistani border when I am in the desert regions of western India. There I seek refuge from the intense heat, dust, & noise that this region offers. A new hotel housekeeper, who speaks barely 2 words of English, came to my room one evening, knocking gently on the door. I expected him to be carrying towels, which should normally come ready stocked in the room, but these guys figure out any & every which way to make tips by either messing with your TV reception, or depriving you of towels. Instead, he stood there with a screwdriver in hand, murmuring “Screw Madam? Screw Madam?” Ha, Ha, Ha, I could hear the guys snickering down the corridor, having set up this poor chap and me to be the victims of this tawdry prank. Now some of you might wonder if I have anything to fear. Luckily, I truly feel safer in India than I do in the States. I feel as though the predatory advances can be dealt with via a quick verbal defeat. It’s like swatting flies. Persistent, annoying, but relatively harmless.

 
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