Can't stand Pettifleur
Im half South Asian and can tell she's much more Sri Lankan than she wants to admit. Lydia asked if she's Indian and she denied it as if Sri Lanka has nothing to do with India. Sri Lanka is part of the Indian subcontinent. She then said she's Dutch and Portuguese. There's a population in Goa, India that considers themselves Portuguese because some Portuguese ships docked there for 2 weeks (I'm exaggerating the 2 weeks, but they like to believe they're not like the rest of the population while they look even darker than the rest of the Indian population). Danesh D'Souza is Goan, so there's an example of someone who likes to identify with the colonists much like Stockholm Syndrome. I'm not saying this of all Goans, but I bring them up as an example of Indian people who exaggerate some European connection to deny who they really are. Indians who do this denial do so because they are trying to pretend they don't belong to the lower caste ("untouchables") so they say they are not quite Indian, therefore try to deny their actual caste. (I don't agree with the caste system at all, btw. I'm just pointing out that the denial of heritage exists).
I think Pettifleur is ashamed of being almost all Sri Lankan (which she insists on calling Ceylon, the name it hasn't been called in probably close to a century). The fact that she mentioned being of Portuguese extraction alerted me. I would be interested to see her parents. I have a sense Pettifleur is trying to deny who she is and pretending to be something she isn't. What Sri Lankan names tgeir kid Pettifleur, for crying out loud! It sounds like a drag name!
Second, she is so arrogant and nasty. The way she picked on Gamble's earrings the first time she met her reminded me of many South Asian women I've known -not subtle or nuanced with the cattiness. (I know this is starting to sound a little anti South Asian. I'm proud of my heritage and most SA's I know are not at all like this. It's just that this is a particular cultural expression of bitchiness I've observed). Pettifleur obviously hit a nerve with me because my background has afforded the experience of spotting a special kind of phony in that community.
She's childish and all ego. I read that she's not this big whig experienced property mogul and she acts like as little kid pretending to be a "bidness woman". I think she is a kept woman, though I dont know who would pay for that frankly. Lol.