Introducing 'Tata'

As I have mentioned in previous posts, my life in India consists of an army of domestic attendants, who seem to have been taught that someone like me should not have to do anything for themselves (yesterday I put a wrench in that plan and insisted on packing AND carrying my own groceries). I don't ask whether it is because I am a woman, a foreigner, white, etc. but I don't really like standing there while someone does everything for me. At the school though, it's a little bit different. The cooks, cleaners, drivers, etc. all depend on their jobs for their livelihood, and are proud of their steady employment, so I stay out of the way and try to focus on my own job.

My main man on campus is Tata, our gardener. At first I was pegged by the others as being in love with him, but now they seem to understand that he more falls into the "mascot" category for me ( you will realize how obvious that distinction is after you see how many of his teeth are missing). We think Tata is about 80 years old, he has a wife and sixteen grandchildren (at last count) and is absolutely the cutest little man I have ever seen. Bless his heart, he even has his own gardener's uniform that he wears every single day, no matter how many extra shirts we give him.

This is Tata in his uniform. He also has a matching khaki jacket to go with it.

At first, Tata was not real sure about me and why I was taking so many pictures of him. But these days he and I pal around like we are best buds. From morning til night I can find him anywhere on campus, hose in hand, watering God only knows what, looking a little shorter than when I last saw him. He is skinny as a rake, and his little bald head seems to droop below his shoulders at times, but he perks up when I call out to him. When I see him out in the village, locals must think we are crazy when he comes hollering at me from down the road to shake my hand. It's as if we are speaking the same language, but we aren't: I chat to him in English while he nods along, and then he rattles on in Tamil while I give him the "oh! uh huh, really!" Somehow we manage to communicate and he told Prema the other day that I could be his 7th(!) daughter.

Tata looking very regal in his "evening uniform": a sweater we got him for the chilly nights.

Tata hard at work in the hot sun. No matter the heat, he always refuses water.

The best day of all was Opening Day when he opted out of his uniform and showed up in an ironed plaid shirt and nice pants. He was so proud to talk to all the out of town guests about his flower beds. Meanwhile I was sneaking around snapping shots of him in the spotlight. So cute :)