The Quintessential Indian Maid

Indrani Medhi

Every second Indian household uses domestic helps; some to keep up with their farcical lifestyles, some to actually focus on their career-oriented jobs, and some just because they find it too “outdated” to do household chores. Running a home without the help of a maid is never easy. It is even a tougher job when there are children in the picture. Despite this, some women manage to run their homes without a house maid. You need not be super-woman to manage your lives maid-less as long as you can follow certain things to survive without a full-time domestic helper. It is indeed an amazing feat today if you are managing your household and even working out without a full time or part time maid.

Both husband and wife goes out to work. 'He' comes home, lays on the bed and watches TV. Whereas 'she' comes home, cooks, cleans, feeds the kids, feeds him and does all the remaining chores, because society has made belief that it is exclusively 'her' duty. It is important to understand that each of us in the family has a role to play in the household and we should juggle our turns for our personal stuffs.

The musical chair then starts – while one plays with the kids, another cooks or washes the dishes before they pile up. We should split our roles and household chores among ourselves. Kids should be taught from a certain age to put away the used dishes in the kitchen, throw away whatever wrappers have been opened and other small things here and there. You are lucky if you have a hands-on husband who would forgo some of his sleep time to help you out with the housework. In other words, there should be no male superiority in the house.

What could be the biggest horror for a working mom when she leaves her child to a maid? Frequent news about domestic helpers involved in abusing employer's child when no one is around are common in India. If you treat them well, they will treat your children well. It becomes mentally stressful when you read about stories of maid engaged in petty thefts, stealing valuables, doing wierd things at home or fleeing even after having agreed to a written contract. Disputes over 'leaves' and 'offs' prompt increasing numbers of maids to end their contracts prematurely and sign up with new employers. If you are unable to fulfil the absurd demands of a maid can also land you in a soup.

Off late, a maid servant from Mumbai had threatened to quit her job if her employers did not provide her with a dress like the one worn by Priyanka Chopra to the Met Gala red carpet. The maid said that she had back problems which made it difficult for her to bend down while mopping the floor. The gown would help her clean the floor as she just walks across the house!

But to be fair, not all helpers are harmful and dishonest. There are a good handful of them who are honest, hard working and intelligent. In India, some people do not hesitate to employ children as domestic helpers and even as nannies. It would be a common sight in some households where a child maid would be looking after a kid as old as her! Even some parents usually those below the poverty line, let their kid daughters off to work as domestic helpers in well-to-do urban families and earn a few pennies for their own family.

But why do we need a domestic helper? Why should we allow an external party to intrude into our lives? Life has become such today that we wish to rely more on an unrelated person to take care of ourselves and our kids. Employing a maid has always been a luxury, but today for some, it has become a necessity. Even agencies and firms provide hired maids, watchmen and security guards to households, apartments and companies. Because too many of us has become super-dependent on maids to take charge of our houses and sometimes even the children and their daily routines. But it is indeed possible to survive well without a full time maid and without regretting any slightest in our decision to remain maid-less. Every day, we should be able tell ourselves that life is great without a maid; life becomes fantastic.

Have we ever realised what amazing work-out housework gives us? Vacuum cleaning, mopping and lifting the laundry basket are great for getting rid of those 'flabby triceps' we all love to hate. What’s more, climbing up and down the stairways with the laundry basket in tow is great for the legs, thighs and derriere. Basically, we get an all-body workout every day – whether we like it or not! If the household chores are too much to handle, we can consider engaging a part-time helper to help out once per week. At least the heavier and daunting chores like washing toilet, cleaning windows and fans, ironing and a thorough cleaning can be done by the part-timer. The daily cleaning by ourselves can be performed on a lighter version using the help of technology or domestic products.

The maid is not the only solution. Sometimes doing things with a scheduled plan can save our money and can be a bit change or relaxation from usual work. It just needs us to wake up a little early, follow a plan and do the most important things to get rid of hassles. It should not matter if our wardrobe looks like it has just gone through a tornado, as long as we can find our clothes. It should not matter if we can only manage to wash our laundry at 11pm as long as they are being washed eventually. We should learnt to accept that life is not perfect always, at times it gets mess up and it is perfectly fine. We should learn to say, "Goodbye gym, hello housework…"