Getting paid for doing nothing
Published July 15, 2008 | Have you ever fancied of a dream job where you can earn a handsome income that too by doing nothing? If the answer is yes, then turn your gaze towards the streets of Kerala to steal a glance of an intriguing phenomenon. You would see men in striking blue shirts with a menacingly intimidating posture keeping a vigil on all vehicles laden with goods. No, we are not talking about any newly formed elite police force; this men in the blue are loading and unloading employees known in local parlance as ‘attimari’.
No matter whether you are shifting your home or transferring building materials to the site you will have to experience an unpleasant close brush with this formidable force of head load workers. They not just fleece the hapless public by charging staggering wages for the work they do, but they could also spring up a surprise by raising a bill for the work they never did. Indeed, not many jobs on planet earth can match the exceptional benefits tagged with this job!
Even if you had employed someone else for loading or unloading the articles, these men might shamelessly ask for their wages, which is known a ‘nokku kooli’ in Malayalam. It would literally mean wages paid for being just onlookers! It goes without saying that this shocking and weird system makes the daily life of countless ordinary mortals, miserable day in and day out. The general public is destined to mutely put up with all these tantrums because not many would dare to raise a finger against their misdeeds as these men are grouped under influential trade union organizations and political parties.
No wonder that these school drop outs show off the latest mobikes and mobile phones and live in palatial houses which in itself is self explanatory of the advantage of having a lucrative job of this genre!
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