Maska Term Analysis

Maska is a Hindi term meaning to flatter, butter up, or impress. Sharma often accuses some of his coworkers of practicing maska, implying that they have advanced not through genuine achievement but by currying favors with their superiors.

Maska Quotes in Sharmaji

The Sharmaji quotes below are all either spoken by Maska or refer to Maska. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Tradition, Modernity, and Gender Roles Theme Icon
).

Sharmaji Quotes

‘Oh, sit down,’ said Sharma. ‘Even my boss is after my life. They are all like that, these managers. They think that only they work. Just because they stay here after office hours they expect people to believe that they work. Ha! All that is to impress the general manager. How else can they get their promotions? All maska.’

Gupta sat down.

‘Jagdish,’ called Sharma. ‘More chai.’

The third round of tea arrived.

The electricity went off.

‘Bas,’ said Sharma. ‘Now who can work? These power cuts will kill us all.’ He sat back in his chair.

‘My boss says that it is no excuse,’ said Gupta gloomily. ‘He says that if a power cut lasts three hours it doesn’t mean that we don’t work for three hours. He says that we are here to work.’

‘He can keep saying that,’ said Sharma contemptuously. ‘Does he think we’re animals? They all think that we have no feelings. Work all day, work when the electricity goes off, work without increments, work without promotions, work, work, work. That is all they care about. No concern for us as human beings.’

Related Characters: Sharma (speaker), Gupta (speaker)
Page Number and Citation: 370-371
Explanation and Analysis:
In this dialogue, Sharma begins to shed light on why he resents the company, if only in general terms. His complaints of rampant corruption in the form of maska suggest that his refusal to work is not based entirely on personal laziness and that he and Gupta might not be such an exception to the rule in the office. Indeed, given that Sharma has worked at the company for 25 years, there would seem to be some credibility to his complaints against the managers whom he has watched receive promotions that, according to him, they did not earn. The way Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accu
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Maska Term Timeline in Sharmaji

The timeline below shows where the term Maska appears in Sharmaji. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Sharmaji
Labor and Creativity Theme Icon
Loyalty and Disillusion Theme Icon
...lately, but Sharma dismisses the managers’ threats and other employees’ attempts to appease them as maska. They drink a third round of tea, and the power goes off. Frequent power cuts... (full context)