5 Responses to “Water Boat”

1. harkol
   December 22nd, 2010 @ 6:59 pm

   >Who would become a coolie by choice?

   Everyone – they have a choice – To be a coolie, or to beg/borrow, or live on charity, or die in hunger, or do something illegal. They choose to earn a living that is both legal, ethical and moral and live with a dignity of labor.

   Besides, All of us do the same – Who would want to be an employee by choice? Wouldn't you rather be an employer?

   Who'd be a small businessman by choice? Wouldn't you rather be a big businessman?

   We are dealt some cards, and we choose among those cards. The dignity lies in selecting a course of action that is ethically, legally correct.

   >Parasite or thief is better any day if you can get away with it.

   It isn't. Either of this is in reality is drain on the society. They don't contribute to the productivity of a society. Any type of laborer does.

   The guy who cleans the clogged drainage in front of my house, by getting in to crap up to his knees, also has a dignity that a thief or a parasite/beggar can never have.

   > Plumber, janitor, driver all use tools to make their jobs easy

   If you are arguing that humans should only do skilled jobs, then the what you call as 'non-skilled' work will never get done. Besides, have you ever tried to lift 3 suitcases at once and move it? It requires some practice and physical endurance. people who aren't used to it can easily have a slip-disc or a back problem trying to do it.

   >I dont know how you cannot see the analogy between some of the Indian IT folks and their coolies counterparts.

   I believe we are all coolies of one type or other. We all carry out a task that others can't or don't want to do. It is only the level at which we get paid that differs, based on demand-supply rules. Besides that – we all work for money. Only aristocrats (like Gandhi family) are an exception..

   In US a porter (an non-offensive word used for 'coolie') gets a decent income, and at the end of the day earns a decent living. He too is unskilled, but is never looked down upon the way I see over here.

   It is our mentality of feeling superior because of a perception that some skills are better than other (caste system?), that makes us look down on a porter. But, he too has a skill that you don't! otherwise no one would want to use him.

   It is like the “boatman and Brahmin” joke, where Brahmin keeps berating the boatman for his lack of skill & knowledge saying 'your life is a waste'. Just then, a huge wave capsizes the boat pushing them both to water, the Boatman asks brahmin – Do you know how to swim? When Brahmin says “no”, boatman says “your life is over” and swims on…

2. zl
   March 1st, 2011 @ 1:36 pm

   Hannah Rosen

3. g00171227
   March 4th, 2011 @ 1:44 am

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4. azure - Twitter Search
   March 31st, 2011 @ 8:39 am

   The Water Boatman –

5. sharmili
   November 6th, 2011 @ 9:36 pm

   it is interesting to see that panditji told him that the boatman wasted half of his life, 3/4th of his life for not knowing something, the boat man's question finally touched the heart. so, in this world one is not so sufficient in all subjects, but everyone is brilliant in some subjects.