'Maid in India'

Most working women cannot do without maids given the challenges of balancing home and career. Though we’ve had several maids in a span of over three decades, I’ll keep my narrative to the ones with long innings. The first was Mangala, a young girl in her 20s, who was with us for several years till she got married, giving way to Pushpa, her sister. Considering that their mother had succumbed to post-partum complications after Pushpa’s birth, the milk of human kindness flowed quite freely from our end.

When Pushpa moved to Chennai after her marriage, Mangala was back with us until a bike accident left her immobile for months. Seeing my plight, a vegetable vendor brought home one who was given the pink slip after a month due to her loud mouth.

The middle aged lady, Mary, a devout Christian who replaced her was a welcome change and went about her chores quite assiduously till disaster struck, again in the form of an accident. Returning late night from a family function with her husband, a two wheeler crashed into Mary, while crossing the road, tossing her several feet away.

At the hospital the next day, we found her in great pain, with her leg pierced and screwed to the bed railing, for a surgery a week later.

Needless to say she broke down inconsolably on seeing us.

After a week or so, a younger Mary, niece of the former, reported to work. A woman in her late thirties, her cheerful demeanor and cheery greetings despite the woes of a drunkard and abusive husband, not to forget the travails of bringing up four teenaged daughters, endeared her to us quickly. And old Mary was forgotten like the traditional lyrics of the song Clementine ‘How I missed her! how I missed her! How I missed my Clementine, But I kissed her little sister, and forgot my Clementine!’

Unfortunately, the joy was short lived! After a month or so, calamity struck. This time in the form of a street dog! Shooed away by a food delivery boy, the dog chose to sink its teeth on Mary’s ankle! The wound, worsened by the cold climate, forced Mary to seek treatment in her native.

Helpless, we turned to Mangala for temporary help. A recovered Mary returned after a month with renewed vigour. But luck was not to be! Blame it on the new viruses, Mary fell sick and was hospitalised again! Five weeks passed by with no news from her.

Unable to manage any longer, a substitute was found. Just as the new one was settling down, Mary called to say that she was back and needed the
job badly, putting us in a fix. It was the new maid’s benevolence that saved Mary’s day!

For how long? I’m keeping my fingers crossed.