A man in a construction worker’s uniform was turned away at the villa gate—half an hour later, the household was stunned to discover who he really was.

On a sweltering summer morning in New Delhi, outside a grand villa in the city’s most prestigious district, a man in a construction worker’s outfit, covered in cement dust, appeared.

Slung over his back was a frayed cloth sack, and in his hand, he took a hard hat.

The moment he stepped forward, two black-clad bodyguards blocked his path.

— “Go …