Sunday, January 12, 2014

Maid in India

(Image from Google)

Maids are powerful in many ways. Especially Indian maids. See, Almost 100% of upper class households  and nearly 70% of middle class households depend on maids in India. As a child from a middle class- employed parents- busy family, I have always grown up having a maid. I saw how our family was 'mentally disturbed' without a maid even for a day. My mother would go berserk. When I was working, I had a maid in my apartment, who would clean dishes and wash clothes and also clean the house. If the maid doesn't turn up, the house is a mess. So, having maids was not luxury. It  was a need. When I moved to the US, things changed. In this country, having maids is a luxury. Only the upper class families can afford maids! Now I have seen in some families where maids come once a week or once in a fortnight. Its not like India where they would come everyday! 

So, Ms Devyani Khobragade (DK), when being transferred/sent to US as a diplomat, could not leave her maid behind. See, even in the big household in US, its very rare to have live-in maids. One will find live-in nannies. But live-in maids is a rare case! But Ms DK couldn't leave the habit behind, so she brought a maid (made in) from India. As usual, the maid must have felt ecstatic. A free air ticket to USA, free house without rent, free food, NY trips and above all, 30,000 INR as income. What else can a maid ask for. She must have been envied in her circle by her peers. She must have been praised and applauded. She must have been hailed. See, even I never earned 30,000 INR when I was in India. I really had to struggle my way to get to that salary point. But DK showed her a life. 

But seems like things went weird. No one knows how this case just popped up out of blue. What political/personal/national differences are existing deep inside. I don't understand, why Attorney General Preet Bharara never targeted those millions of traffickers who illegally bring others into this country with fake visas and work permits. Why he targeted only DK? Only God and Preet Bharara know the answer. 

But what I am really surprised by is- Ms DK's case went so viral that the relationship between two nations is totally maligned! The relationship that lasted and continued for decades is now on turf because of a MAID? Are you kidding? Seriously?  What could have been a simple sit and talk situation now became so dirty that when I sit to talk with my friends, I am being asked one simple question- "hey what is this maid issue happening now?". Really? A maid issue? 

Now, today when I opened this article, I was totally shocked to see DK showing concerns about meeting her children. I expected some lines about how bad she would be feeling that two nations are fighting. But rather I am in awe while reading the lines on how she would meet her children when they decide to study in US. Really? I thought, you will have to travel across the globe as a diplomat and have your children with you wherever you go. Or rather you can always have them study/go to college in India. And DK is also mentioning about clearing the name in the visa fraud case. Hey....isn't her name mentioned in Adarsh housing scam? Isn't it necessary to clear the name in homeland first? Why a diplomat, whose name was brought up in a scam in India is never charged/questioned? Uff...looks like DK has to clean up several things without a maid now! 

Too many questions, too many situations, too many allegations, too many concerns- only one answer -
Have a MAID IN INDIA!  Not in the US especially when she/he is MADE IN INDIA! 

3 comments:

Arpita said...

To be honest i came to know her only in the maid issue, i did'nt know that she was also involved in the "Adarsh housing scam".
About your writing skills, it has developed with time, your posts are very very professional, keep writing.

Anonymous said...

Wow it is so interesting to see how other cultures operate.

Rika said...

Yep underpaying and mistreating are serious crimes in US and other such countries. One good thing about this is dignity of labor and minimum wages for all jobs. I do respect that and it has made me really humble but now everyone started thinking of Indians as slave drivers I guess. Nobody knows how our system works but they all start judging based on one incident. When I hire a maid in India I think of it as helping out someone by giving them a job. And I work along with my maid to get things done fast so I can go out and earn enough for my family and to pay her so she can take care of her family. That's how I look at it and I think most Indians too.

If you think about it in a broad sense we are all maids to some corporate company (mostly US based) trying to make millions while we slog it out in their offices. The only difference is we are educated maids who spent a lot of money to get our degrees. I don't know how no one talks about this modern slavery done by first world countries in the name of outsourcing and H1B visas.

But this is just my opinion :)