India is a funny place

Last Thursday, our maid-boy did not show up. He was supposed to bring me two curtain rods for the kitchen and a light bulb for a new light I bought. I was out most of the day but he has a key to get in the front door. Friday, it was getting to be almost noon and still no curtain rods and no maid -boy. So I call John Paul - the new "manager" who materialized last week. He assured me someone was on the way. About 15 minute later, there is a knock at the door. I see a familiar face through the peephole but can't quite place him. It's not until I open the door and see the green index cards and a cable cord that I remember this is the same man who was looking for money for the cable bill a few weeks back. I say hello and he says, "John is here," like he's asking a question. I said no and he said he just spoke to him and he's supposed to be here. I said I wasn't sure what he was talking about and tried to muster my most confused look. He then starts dialing a number on his phone from the lobby.

A few minutes later, he's back at the door with our old maid-boy, who's holding a DVD player, and our new(er) maid-boy. The three of them come in and the cable guy and I have the same exact conversation we had two weeks ago.
"You need cable in all three rooms," again this comes out kind of like a question.
"No, we only watch TV in the living room," I say.
He points to the TV in the back bedroom we've been using as storage and says, "you don't want cable there?"
"No. We don't use that TV."
The old maid-boy has gone to work connecting the DVD player and the new maid-boy is just standing, watching. The old maid-boy seems quite surprised and amused when he finds a DVD in the DVD player. He and the new maid-boy exchange a few words and laugh. I wonder if it was something like, "hey, there's a DVD in here. Where'd this come from?"
"Well, I took this DVD player from some other apartment I clean. I didn't think they used it."
"Ha, ha, ha, stupid foreigners."

But anyway, the cable guy says something to the new maid-boy which makes the new maid-boy start dialing his phone. He says something to whoever he's called (presumably the "manager") and hands the phone to the cable guy. The cable guy then starts talking in the phone very quickly and very loudly. I can make out that they are talking about rupees so I assume it has something to do with money. The last time the cable guy was here, he had talked about how if we don't use the back TV, we should disconnect the cable because it costs more to have both TVs connected. He hands the phone back to the new maid-boy who has now been joined by the old maid-boy. The new maid-boy talks to whoever is on the phone and hands the phone back to the cable guy. At this point, the cable guy must say something like, "No, I'm not talking" (to whoever is on the phone) and the cable guy and the maid-boys then appeared to be arguing. Voices were raised and the cable guy was visibly agitated. They hang up the phone and the three of them continuing talking all at the same time. The cable guy says to me again, "so you don't use that TV," pointing to the one in the bedroom we don't use. "I say, no. We've never used that TV."

I'm starting to realize that the cable guy is not affiliated with the cleaning staff but his English is better than the maid-boys' so I start asking him about the curtain rods I was supposed to be getting. At this point, the maid-boy is on the phone again says something and gives it back to the cable guy. I'm hoping my query about the curtain rods is being discussed but again it appears they are talking about the cable and billing. The cable guy starts yelling in the phone again for another 2 minutes (with the maid-boys chiming in every so often) and finally the cable guy says into the phone, "ok, ok, ok, ok. Sure," and hangs up.

He still has the cable cord he entered with, goes to the back bedroom, fiddles around with the back of the TV and returns with the same cable cord in hand and says, "ok, thank you, ma'am." I say, "you're all set?"
He replies, "yes."
"...and my curtain rods?"
The cable guy says, "they brought them yesterday but you weren't here. They'll bring them tomorrow." And out the door he goes.

The maid-boy then looks at me all smiles and says, "problem solved."

Flash forward to Sunday...who comes knocking on the door around 11 AM but the cable guy. He is looking for his money. The landlord apparently said he would pay him but hasn't yet. "If I don't get the money, I have to disconnect your cable."
George says, "yes, we had this conversation 2 weeks ago. We don't pay the bill. It's included in our rent. The landlord pays it."
"Well, he hasn't paid it."
"Ok, well, we can send him an email tomorrow," George says.
"He said he was going to pay it on Friday. Will you please call him and tell him he has to pay or you won't have cable? If I ask, he will keep just saying yes."
"Yes, we'll send him an email Monday."
"Ok or else I have to turn off your cable."

Lessons learned:
1. For all of the oodles of paperwork they generate, they don't seem to like sending bills. They just show up at your door looking to collect money. The phone company has been here a few times looking for money too.
2. When George asks for things (DVD player, water cooler, toaster) we seem to get them. When I ask (curtain rods, light bulbs), no such luck.