Unpublished Diary page of a homemaker-4 (Who made the Maids)

 Who made the Maids

Who made the maids? certainly, God has 😍

I an avid reader of Indian mythology came across the various roles of maids, which were performed by them without their consent. Initially, when any princess was married to another state prince or crowned kings, they were usually accompanied by their personal maids from their maternal house. Since they had either grown up with them or they (the maids) were their nannies. It was easy for them to adjust to their new abode as they were surrounded by familiar faces. Our mythology has many interesting tales of maids who were used to reproduce for the rulers. Vidur, the uncle of Pandu and Kauravs, was born out of wedlock from the maid Parishrami, as Rishi Vyas was invited by the mother of the king of Hastinapur to produce an heir of Hastinapur. The firstborn of Dhritarashtra was Yuyutsu from the maid Sauvali, as Gandhari failed to produce a child in 2 years of marriage. We have many shreds of evidence of maids in our history books where they played a key role in the making of the king and destroying the entire clan. Who can forget Manthra, instrumental for the 14-year exile of Lord Sriram? Hardly any historian paid special respect to this menial domestic help who was hiding behind the monarch to build a stable monarchy. Times have changed and so has the role of these maids. Yet, they are running our house without being given due credit. But wait and pause for a moment, the time has come we should notice their incredible role in our lives.

The pandemic did make us realise so many things which we use to take for granted. It took us to through the road less travelled. We were conveniently going with the flow without appreciating unaccounted luxuries and numerous facilities which we enjoy but fail to see. 

Though mornings are blessed as soon as our helper maid enters our already messy house to put it in order. Our faces are lit up and we take a long sigh of relief with our morning cup of tea. Basin was full of soiled utensils, dirty floors, unmade beds, overflowing laundry bags and the burnt tea pan pleading for its relief😃. This is just a glimpse of our home sweet home as dawn sets in. 

But God has many ways to make us realise the importance of the factors which we thanklessly receive every day. 

What poetic justice? Covid-19 can be synonymous with Insipid as this is the initial state of the corona and we lose many more of our senses as soon as it turns from being asymptomatic to full-blown disease. So, in these times of home isolation, every member did realise the very importance of the other family member. Imagine staying in a nine by nine room with an average carpet area of approx 1300 square feet. It does teach us the art of living which our very respectable Shri Shri Ravishankar couldn’t in his multitudinous sessions. 

Now we don’t need to imagine also, actually, we did survive not only the forced conditions but also the brickbats. I don’t deny that many casualties occurred but still, life seems to exist with our limited mobility. Thanks to Netflix, Amazon, max, and many more which we earlier avoided taking subscriptions of, as these web series will have a wrong impact on our already overexposed progeny. The first thing we checked in the morning was, whether our networking or not. Otherwise, we can only utter in despair ‘tum hi ho Bandhu tumi Sakha ho’🤣.

We started respecting our co-inhabitants and learnt to live in disparity. A few months back before the outbreak of the pandemic we were running away from each other and immersed ourselves deeply into the virtual world. Hands-on mom, overprotective father, our siblings, helpers, washermen, bakers etc., the list is endless. All these people make our life easier to live and if anyone is missing, we feel paralysed. This is the amount of dependency we have and we forget to thank them for their presence in our very precious lives.  

Hardly I dealt with the helpers before I got married as like any Indian household, didn’t have the authority to be in the commanding position other than the man of the house or the lady of the house😃. My parents incessantly taught us to treat these helpers as family members and respect them. We tried to help them in their jobs as and when required. I had a first-hand experience only when I had my own abode to look after. Every day I had to encounter a new problem and like any other homemaker, I learnt how to multitask, and sometimes I came out as a winner who has hit the boundary or other times out on duck😛. 

Few days all goes hunky-dory but as we say temperatures fluctuate with the wind flow, similarly, their continuous running from pillar to post to meet their daily errands do take a toll on their health and suddenly we get to know after much speculation and few phone calls to the friends who are in the same boat that today she is on leave. With the advent of affordable mobile phones, information is conveniently passed on but only when somebody is willing to. We are no less, with every absence we threaten them to deduct money from their already low pay but what an irony, for our convenience everybody was ready to pay her phone recharge and also gifted her a fancy phone. 

Now, much sense has prevailed in them and they became smart enough to make themselves less vulnerable. 

We should call our maids helpers, it does give them some sense of respectability. Running around the house like a zombie and yelling like a mad person needs instant attention. She is the one who asks me to sit down and relax and offers me a steaming hot adrak wali chai to calm my overexerted nerves. Sometimes I wonder at their efficiency with which they work tirelessly in so many houses and also look after their family. Sunday’s are usually fixed for special leisurely meals. Everybody gets up late and loves to have brunch followed by a late elaborate lunch where the entire family is helping to prepare it but normally tasting is done and the only solace that day is light dinner since we have to ready ourselves for the weekly grind from the very next day. As I opened my eyes on a beautiful morning realising it’s Sunday, I went off to sleep again as I don’t need to pack tiffins so I can lie down a bit more and so I just waited for my maid to turn up and clean the kitchen and help me in chopping the vegetables as today I would make special brunch instead of breakfast. To my utter disappointment, I get to know later in the day that she is unwell and I had to be on my toes for some fast forward household chores to be finished. 

Everybody enjoyed the elaborate lunch but by 4 o’clock I started getting exhausted not physically but emotionally as I have to keep planning about the next meal with limited efforts. The option of eating out was open, but I had to clean the kitchen before that. The kids were busy finishing their homework and their father and his father were hooked to the live cricket match without blinking an eyelid as if winning credit will be shouldered by them only. I started washing the utensils and in a fit of rage threw the steel ones with force causing the sound of cacophony. Suddenly I was called by my dear father in law and he asked me to sit down.....very calmly he told me “I know your frustration is creating this noise. Don’t shed your anger on the poor utensils, instead ask your better half to share your workload ....you too need at least a day off.” Wiping my tears from the eyes moistened with overflowing emotions increased papa tenfold respect.

A very precious lesson learnt again by a simple conversation. Our maids too need a day off without any explanation and without the fear of getting the pay cut done with their sins not worthy of. I truly salute the very existence of them in our life !!!!!🙏🙏