Maid's are hard to find. They are in demand and the supply isn't amazing. Born in an upper class family, I have always seen a bunch of maids in and around the house. "The house", cause it was my step mom's house, that's where I first met them. A woman in her 80's would walk close to a mile, early in the morning to reach our place. She sweeps a court yard as big as "Palace grounds" in Bangalore, filled with dry mango leaves, bamboo shoots, tamarind shells, crow shit, human spit and every kind of crap you could imagine. If I decide to walk around that courtyard now, It would take half hour and an appointment with a physio.
The lady had a weird name, no matter what the weather was, what the day was, she swept the courtyard. If she couldn't make it, her daughter, her grand daughter someone backed up. It's as if the entire family was destined to clear crap. She got a hundred bucks a month, the morning food (Cannot call it breakfast,Mostly left overs from the previous day).Privileges like torn clothes, tampered books, damaged vessels etc were part of the variable component. I still remember the spark on that wrinkled face, when I held her hands and asked her name. I am damn sure if I would have not asked her that question, she would have lost it "Yes" her name. I was friends with her and came to know that she has been sweeping the house for almost twenty years and has never known how the house looked like inside. She was not allowed, she was one among the untouchables.
Another maid, who usually walks in in by 9:00 am, is fair skinned and big busted. Has an ass wiggling walk and an irremovable smirk on her face. She would not talk or interact with the oldie sweeper, will eat her share of the breakfast, not the leftovers. Had a good rapport, with the chief. (My step mom's mother). She had a television at home and the initial fifteen minutes of her day starts after discussing the daily soaps.Sitting on the veranda outside the kitchen, she would almost quote from the soaps and make her boss cry. Then she starts cleaning the vessels and the kitchen. Sweeps through the Veranda and then the bedrooms. Laundry was done twice a week, laundry time is erotica time. She flashes news on the sex life of women in the near by house holds, about stains and stink and what not. While women around enjoyed the conversation, they never figured out their pictures in bed painted by our very own Madiangellooo. She never cleaned the toilet's, that was a mean job, for her class. We had another lady come in to do that. She was not supposed to be seen at all, so she would come, clean and run.
Times have changed, I am not sure about the maid community back at my village, but then my current maid is the best I have ever seen. She's 60, climbs three floors to get to my flat, owns a cellphone and has nephews with engineering degrees and does not want her third generation to work in BPO's. I do not understand anything of what she tells me, she speaks Marathi and that too in accent even Raj Thackeray wouldn't understand. But the she's cheeky, comes in early in the morning, and cleans up the only glass that we used to have water. Then wipes the uncooked,gas stove thrice. Knocks @ my door with a force so considerate that the wood wont get hurt and runs away to the next home where her appointment starts in exact fifteen minutes after ours is over. She does not work on Sundays, charges extra for bed sheets, gives you a lecture on the sari that she want's on Diwali, would not eat anything until it was cooked with specific intentions of getting into her stomach. In case of an argument, the only statement she has is " It's your home too, If you want it clean you need to help out". But then, looking at her running around,12 different places a day, making a cool 15-20k, I forget everything. All my anger just dissolves away. No matter what, I respect the effort she puts in for herself, Hey am a good employer !!!!!
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