JAM BOY

Something I heard about quite recently and didn’t know whether I felt more saddened or shocked. The definition of this term according to urban dictionary - 'Jamboy's' were young colored boys who were smeared with jam to attract all the bugs and insects away from the rich golfers. If they were successful, they got to keep the pot jam! And for trivia, it is still possible to hire a jamboy in some countries!

Shaiwal has a colleague who is Scottish by birth and who is totally enamored by India, after his stay in Mumbai for almost a year. His name is Alli, short for Allistair. Alli loves to discuss India, its festivals, its ways, etc… and so invariably seeks out a conversation with Shaiwal. During one such conversation Alli mentioned that there is a golf course in Mumbai near Mahalakshmi where Jam Boys were and possible still are used. Young Indian boys, possibly from the streets, hired to put jam on themselves so that the ‘whites’ could play golf peacefully. A practice instigated during the 'RAJ' in the different colonies under it.

How disgusting a human that golfer would have to be to allow a small child willfully attract insects and get bitten? Did the golfer think that being brown skinned and from poverty meant that these boys didn’t get sick or feel the bite? I cant begin to imagine how the mind of such ‘whites’ would have worked to have introduced this inhumane custom in the first place

While my blood boiled in rebellion over such atrocity, a part of mind also started wondering, if this custom were to be brought to a halt today, then would these Jam boys be thankful or would they be unhappy over having a source of income taken away? Human rights and talk of such are indeed the privilege of those who have their tummy’s full and their heads covered!