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The Sahib’s right-hand man, the maistri directly oversees the coolies as they work on the Skeffington Coffee Estate. He recruits workers from distraught villages and convinces them to work at the estate. He translates the Sahib’s instructions into the coolies’ native languages, beats them on a regular basis, and frequently kicks them off the estate when they demand their unpaid wages. Later, the maistri helps put down the Gandhian rebellion.
Maistri Quotes in Kanthapura
The Kanthapura quotes below are all either spoken by Maistri or refer to Maistri. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Section 2
Quotes
“May I ask one thing, Moorthy? How much has one to pay?”
“Nothing, sister. I tell you the Congress gives it free.”
“And why should the Congress give it free?”
“Because millions and millions of yards of foreign cloth come to this country, and everything foreign makes us poor and pollutes us. To wear cloth spun and woven with your own God-given hands is sacred, says the Mahatma. And it gives work to the workless, and work to the lazy. And if you don’t need the cloth, sister—well, you can say, ‘Give it away to the poor,’ and we will give it to the poor. Our country is being bled to death by foreigners. We have to protect our mother.”
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Section 5
Quotes
And they all rose up like one rock and fell on the ground saying, “You are a dispenser of good, O Maharaja, we are the lickers of your feet…”
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Maistri Quotes in Kanthapura
The Kanthapura quotes below are all either spoken by Maistri or refer to Maistri. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Section 2
Quotes
“May I ask one thing, Moorthy? How much has one to pay?”
“Nothing, sister. I tell you the Congress gives it free.”
“And why should the Congress give it free?”
“Because millions and millions of yards of foreign cloth come to this country, and everything foreign makes us poor and pollutes us. To wear cloth spun and woven with your own God-given hands is sacred, says the Mahatma. And it gives work to the workless, and work to the lazy. And if you don’t need the cloth, sister—well, you can say, ‘Give it away to the poor,’ and we will give it to the poor. Our country is being bled to death by foreigners. We have to protect our mother.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Section 5
Quotes
And they all rose up like one rock and fell on the ground saying, “You are a dispenser of good, O Maharaja, we are the lickers of your feet…”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
