I'm a Master in India

“Take out the word ‘Sur’,” Rohan said with a frown of disgust.

“Sur Slum?” Who named this? It’s too careless.

“Uh, anyway, it’s where the workers live, you have to go and see.”

Ashish was referring to the land Rohan had temporarily acquired from the city hall, which was the legal slum.

Anand and the first batch of workers built wooden houses there, and Ashish also moved in.

A few months later, that small plot of land had changed dramatically. Not only had the number of residents exploded from the initial thirty to two hundred.

Various facilities also began to improve. Public toilets were built, messy wires were densely spread across the rooftops, and even the road surface that the bulldozer had previously flattened was covered with a layer of gravel.

To be honest, Rohan hadn't been there to see it in a long time, even though they were only a ten-minute walk apart.

“What happened there?” he asked.

“Water. That bastard plumber is asking for an exorbitant price,” Ashish said through clenched teeth.

“I remember you guys had the water pipes ready at the beginning, right?”

“One faucet isn't enough, we have two to three thousand people.”

Rohan gasped, “Two to three thousand people? Sur Electric Factory only has less than three hundred people in total, how can there be so many more?”

“Not at all,” Ashish shook his head, “Three hundred workers means three hundred families. Each family has eight or nine people, so that’s two to three thousand.”

Rohan was stunned. He had forgotten the Three Brothers’ other skill: having piglets.

“Boss, you are the one who calls the shots in this whole area, you have to go and uphold justice,” Ashish pleaded from the side.

Sur Electric Factory is well-known in this area, and the workers' slum exists dependent on it. The only person who has representative authority here is Rohan.

In a sense, he already had a role similar to Tej Ali, the slum leader.

“Where’s Anand?” It was too hot, and Rohan was too lazy to move.

“He’s not here these two days, he went south to find that Brazilian.”

They had just completed a smuggling deal, and Luca decided to stay in Mumbai permanently. The self-proclaimed Anand was taking him to familiarize himself with the rules here.

“Alright, I’ll be right there,” Rohan said helplessly as he got up.

When problems within the workers' slum couldn't be resolved, he needed to step in and make the final decision.

This was an unspoken agreement among everyone, after all, people privately called it the Sur Slum.

Raju didn't hide in the office enjoying the coolness. She followed closely behind Rohan, acting as his assistant.

The gate of Sur Electric Factory faced south, while the workers' slum was to the north. They walked halfway around the wall and were all sweating profusely.

When they arrived, Rohan looked up and was startled by the scene before him.

“Ashish, how many people are there here?”

“I don’t know, maybe over ten thousand.”

“Didn’t you just say two to three thousand?”

“Two to three thousand are our own people, the rest are outsiders.”

Rohan remembered that when this place was planned, it was only a few thousand square meters. After the bulldozer leveled the ground and it was surrounded by barbed wire, that was it.

At that time, it was empty, surrounded by wasteland. Anand and the others built wooden houses here, which was almost no different from reclaiming land.

Now, surrounding those few rows of neat wooden houses, various kinds of shacks were expanding outwards like mushrooms, unrestrained and without limit.

They couldn't even be considered houses. They were entirely supported by two bamboo poles, holding up various cardboard pieces to form a shelter. The outermost layer was covered with layer upon layer of black tarpaulin to prevent rain.

Rohan suspected that if he kicked it a couple more times, the house would collapse.

“When did they gather here, and how do they make a living?”

“Boss, you know, workers also need to consume. They need to drink tea, buy daily necessities, and sometimes they need to find women…”

How high were the wages of the workers at Sur Electric Factory? In the past two months, the factory had been operating at full capacity, with two shifts. The wages for a worker working 12 hours a day were at least over 100 rupees.

A monthly salary of 3,000 rupees to start! This was almost equivalent to the monthly income of an average middle-class family in Mumbai, ridiculously unreal.

So the first batch of entrepreneurs flocked here, setting up small shops right next to the barbed wire. Tea stalls, small general stores, vegetable shops, tailor shops, and small restaurants appeared one after another.

The workers were also happy to see this. They didn't have to go to the markets further east and south. As long as they tore a hole in the barbed wire, they could bend down and buy things.

Later, gambling dens and gray market places selling liquor also appeared. The area along the barbed wire was completely occupied, and Rohan could no longer distinguish the boundary between the legal and illegal slums.

With these small shops, more and more people naturally came. Those pavement dwellers, as if smelling blood, almost overnight enveloped the outer shops as well.

They originally lived on the streets, with no place to shelter from the wind and rain, and their only possession was a plastic sheet.

They waited for a new spot to open up in a slum to move into. This was their only way out, long and without hope.

There were too many poor people in Mumbai, and slum spots were limited.

However, there was one situation that was no different from a windfall for pavement dwellers: the birth of a new slum.

It was not difficult to imagine the madness that would ensue when the news of the Sur legal slum spread. Many people rushed from South Mumbai overnight, just to grab a spot closer to the barbed wire.

“Isn’t anyone managing this?” Rohan was so shocked by the scene before him that he was speechless.

The land he had acquired was only within the barbed wire fence. The wasteland outside, in principle, still belonged to the government.

“Probably after a while, people from the municipal committee will come and symbolically demolish a few shacks.”

“Symbolically?”

“Because it’s useless. Those people will hide and watch them demolish. As soon as the municipal committee people leave, in less than two hours, those shacks will be built back up precariously in the same spot.”

Rohan understood. This was simply impossible to manage. Mumbai had over two thousand slums, how many people did the municipal committee have to spare?

“Actually, the municipal committee is just following orders, they don’t want to do this either,” Ashish surprisingly had no ill will towards the people who were demolishing.

“Boss, can you imagine that scene? There’s a woman standing there, wearing a dirty sari. She doesn’t even have water to drink, where would she have extra water to wash clothes?

The children are naked, they don’t even have decent clothes, their homes are bare. And the people from the municipal committee are like devils with bared fangs and claws, rushing in to take away the little they have.

Normal Indians wouldn’t do this. Mumbai is sick, it’s not the fault of the poor people living in the slums.”

Rohan looked at Ashish with some surprise. He wasn't entirely a blockhead who only knew technology.

“But this place won’t expand indefinitely. Once it reaches a certain size, the municipal committee will get serious,” Ashish said with experience.

“It really can’t go on like this, that will cause a lot of trouble,” Rohan sympathized with them, but he also didn't want his factory to be surrounded by a slum.

Who knew what would happen when there were too many people? The Three Brothers' outrageous actions were always unpredictable.

“Soon, it won’t exceed ten thousand people, this is the limit the municipal committee can tolerate,” Ashish knew that only because Sur Electric Factory was in a remote location could there be such a large slum.

In South Mumbai, a few hundred people would be demolished in various ways. That place was too crowded.

Ashish led Rohan to avoid the illegal slum and walked on the dirt road enclosed by barbed wire, directly reaching the legal slum area.

The wooden houses here were noticeably much neater. They were all built by the workers of Sur Electric Factory using wooden boards.

Some individual houses were even reinforced with bricks. The alleys between the houses were also clean, and should be maintained by dedicated people.

Everyone cherished this legal place to live, and everyone genuinely maintained its dignity.

Following the direction Ashish pointed, Rohan saw a group of women surrounding a plumber, chattering and arguing non-stop.

The man was wearing the uniform of a water supply company and was deaf to the crowd's protests.

Rohan walked over, and everyone automatically made way, and the arguing gradually subsided.

“What’s happening?” he asked.

“Rohan, one faucet is not enough,” Anand’s wife, Freda, stepped forward, “The water supply here is only two hours a day. When we carry buckets and queue behind the public faucet, the water supply suddenly cuts off.”

“This is the rule, I have no right to interfere,” the plumber immediately retorted.

“You’re the one behind this, you scoundrel!” The crowd began to shout and curse.

Ashish took this opportunity to explain to Rohan that this water cutoff operation was a common trick used by local plumbers. They colluded with the government water supply unit to enrich themselves.

“One faucet isn't enough, you can add a few more. Connect a four-inch pipe, and four households can have faucets. Sixteen thousand rupees, we can start work today.”

“See, Boss. This guy is just asking for an exorbitant price!” Ashish really wanted to beat him up.

Sixteen thousand rupees, this price was simply outrageous for people in the slum.

Facing the crowd’s angry curses, the plumber was not afraid at all. He knew that the people here had money. A monthly salary of over 3,000 rupees was higher than his.

Sixteen thousand rupees, that’s all. If four households split it, each family pays four thousand, how is that too much?

“Are you from the Municipal Services Company?” Rohan turned to the plumber.

“That’s right, we are employed by the municipality. Except for the Shiv Sena, no one can make us change the rules, that’s what Boss Rafique said,” the plumber saw that Rohan had a significant presence and immediately brought up Mumbai’s local strongman, the Shiv Sena.

Rohan smiled, “I just met Rafique not long ago, and had a cup of coffee with Thackeray at his villa.”

“You… who are you?” The plumber became uncertain and surprised. He felt that the person in front of him looked a bit familiar.

“Didn’t Thackeray tell you not to provoke Dr. Sur?” Ashish said from the side, borrowing power.

“Ah!” The plumber exclaimed, “Dr. Sur!”

He was so scared he didn't know what to do, then he immediately knelt down and touched the dirt in front of Rohan's toes.

“I didn’t know it was you, Dr. Sur!” the plumber begged piteously.

If Rohan told Rafique about this, he would be in big trouble. Shiv Sena big shot Thackeray had personally spoken, no one dared to disobey.

He also didn't expect the dignified Dr. Sur, a noble Brahmin, to come to a place like a slum, it was simply impossible.

“Alright, get up,” Rohan waved his hand, “How much do you charge for a four-inch pipe and a faucet?”

“Two thousand… No, it’s free!” The plumber answered hastily.

“Forget it, just two thousand,” Rohan looked at Freda and Ashish, “Is this fee reasonable?”

“Reasonable! It’s too reasonable!” Ashish beamed with joy, and the crowd also burst into cheers of victory.

“Also, add two more hours to the water supply time every day,” Rohan took out a few rupees as a tip.

“No problem, Dr. Sur, my pleasure,” The plumber, who had received the money, also became beaming with joy.

“I will inform the Municipal Company. You know what to do from now on, right?”

“Of course, water supply, electricity supply, including public toilets, there will be no problems.”

Very good, a permanent solution. Rohan wouldn't have to step in again in the future.

But the taste of holding representative authority was really good.

Representative authority, short for “代理权力” (dàilǐ quánlì), literally “agency power”.

It is not power you possess inherently, but is specially granted.

Tej Ali in the slum, Bal Thackeray in the Shiv Sena, are all people who possess representative authority.

Of course, Rohan is too. He is the person with the most representative authority in Sur Electric and the workers' slum behind it.