Faithful butler inherits $8 million

NEW YORK, Aug. 14 (UPI) -- A Nepalese-born butler who became a celebrity when he was left $8 million by his former employer says he misses his old, simpler life.

Indra Tamang, 57, who spent three decades in faithful service to actress Ruth Ford, became a millionaire when Ford's will left her estate -- two sumptuous apartments in The Dakota plus an art collection, all worth an estimated $8 million -- to him on her death in 2009, the New York Daily News reported Friday.

The media attention that followed his good fortune "hit me hard as hell," Tamang said.

Life in the spotlight went straight to his head, he admits.

"The stars in my head lingered quite some time," he wrote in his blog. "It still comes back sometimes -- the sporadic media interviews, invitation to host talk shows, chair a program hosted to recognize my own 'success.'"

But he sometimes finds himself wishing for his former, simpler life, he wrote.

"I rather be Indra of yore. I rather live my own life than try to be someone else."

Tamang lives in a modest two-family house in Queens with his wife and three children.

One of the Dakota apartments is on the market for $5 million.

Born in a Nepalese farming village, Tamang's life took a turn when he met Ford's brother, poet Charles Henri Ford, who brought him to the U.S. in 1974.

"I was always hearing about America," said. "I took my chance and I came. I had no idea how the work was going to go and how long I would stay."