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Indra Tamang grew up poverty-stricken in Nepal, a country whose only claim is the world’s highest peak. He lived in a mud hut and could barely write, but within a matter of years, he would be traveling the globe, dining with the likes of John Lennon and Andy Warhol, living in New York, Paris, and Crete, finally retiring a multimillionaire.
So, how does a dirt-poor teenager who could only speak his native language become a globe-trotting multimillionaire?
After landing a job in a hotel in the nation’s capitol of Katmandu, the Nepalese teenager met and befriended a patron of the hotel, an influential writer of the times, Charles Ford.
Ford quickly hired Tamang as his personal assistant, putting him in charge of menial tasks such as delivering groceries and cleaning. However, Ford recognized Tamang’s ability to learn, and the writer soon taught the native of Nepal how to use a camera. Serving as Ford’s photojournalist, Tamang began traveling the world. During that time, he met Ford’s well-to-do sister, Ruth, a former model and actress.
For three decades, Tamang served the Ford family. As Ruth aged, she made more demands on her brother’s butler. In fact, Tamang began spending more time in service to Ruth than he did Charles, because the elderly model was ailing in health, losing her sight and hearing.
The Nepalese’s tedious and sacrificial care for the brother and sister knew very few limits. Tamang sometimes skipped family vacations to pick up medicine, pay bills, organize paperwork, and supervise the home of Ms. Ford. Throughout his years of service, she lovingly referred to him as “Indra, darling.”
Tamang’s devotion to the family was tremendous; he even saw to both of their funerals when they died, seven years apart.
Indra Tamang never searched for another job during his years of employment to the Fords, even though his wife had to work to help make ends meet. But his loyalty to the family would be richly rewarded.
Upon her death in 2009, Ruth Ford bequeathed to Indra her two luxury apartments at Central Park as well as her Russian surrealist art collection. Her estranged daughter and grandchildren received none of the estate worth millions of dollars.
These days, Indra spends more time with his daughter and wife pondering their future. Reflecting upon his former employers, Tamang notes, “Between Charles and Ruth and me, it was a friendship. I wasn’t just a butler; our bonds were more than that.”
At the end of their lives, the Fords elevated the status of Indra Tamang. Jesus did the same thing with His disciples at the end of His earthly life.
I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. (John 15:15)
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Topics Illustrated Include:
Devotion
Friends
Hard Work
Loyalty
Reward
Servanthood
(Resource cataloged by David R Smith)
