There is a certain breed of men you’ll find across the world, although they seem to be abnormally concentrated in the Delhi/NCR region. From Haryana, UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, to a lesser degree Punjab, and mostly from the lower socio economic strata. But don’t be too surprised if you run into one of them from the upper/more educated classes either. The sleazy, smarmy, creepy breed, as I like to call them. Then again, that might be inaccurate. They are a hell of a lot worse.
The best way of finding out whether men from this region would fall into this category is to tell them you are a Nepali woman. Their pupils dilate and a slimy, sometimes toothless, leer begins to grace their usually gray, tobacco stained lips. To them, a Nepali woman is someone who is easily overpowered, naïve, timid, weak. Theirs for the taking without any consequences from the authorities.
I hate these men.
My driver, the one I’ve been raving about—the one who gives me history and political lessons while driving me to work and back (and wherever else) tried attacking a 17-year-old yesterday afternoon. He came into the apartment, told her he had sent his wife home on her account, and promptly attempted chasing her around the apartment, and grabbing her. To her credit, the girl cried loudly and told him that she’d immediately call me and tell me what was going on. Luckily, she received a phone call then and told him it was me on the other line (it wasn’t). He then attempted to grab her phone, and when unsuccessful, ran out of the apartment. He proceeded to call her the rest of the afternoon and threaten her against letting us know what had transpired that afternoon. He told her we wouldn’t believe her. That we valued him too much as a driver. That it was his word against hers. When she informed him that she’d tell us anyway, he got other men to call and threaten her. This girl is 17 years old. She’s a kid. She is also a Nepali woman.
The driver has disappeared since the incident. I doubt he’s going to come back and collect his money for the month. I secretly wish he does just so I can let him know what exactly I think of him and his kind. I’ve let the girl know that if anyone so much as looks at her in a suggestive way, she should tell me immediately, the minute it happens.
This whole ordeal makes me wonder how different my life in India would have been, had I come here by myself. Had I not been engaged to a relatively privileged Indian man? Hell, I get some less than stellar reactions from the same kind of disgusting men (but only richer) every now and then, even when I am introduced as the Nepali-Canadian fiancé. You can hear it in the way they say ahhhh, Nepali. They might keep the smile on their face polite, but you just know that they are thinking something along the lines of ‘if I can find a Nepali who looks like that, I won’t have to pay for a Russian.’ Ugh. Like I’ve said, I hate these men.
***NOTE: This is a small minority of men. Most Indian men are very nice. Even if they are from Haryana, UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, to a lesser degree Punjab.
