It was during the Covid lockdown that the whole of India began to really respect their domestic help. We realized the amount of work they do, quietly and tirelessly in our houses, to keep it spotlessly clean. The kaamwali bais in Mumbai however are a different breed all together. They have the confidence of a lion in an urban jungle. The prey they hunt is you and me. With so many high rises built in a 1 km radius, it is but natural that they have a sense of pride and high self-esteem.
No house in Mumbai can function without the help of bais. Two and three per household is the norm. One for cooking, one for cleaning, one for dusting or looking after the kids/aged parents. The requirements are aplenty. High-rises are always surrounded by a thriving community of slum dwellers. The two worlds co-exist peacefully, for they depend on each other.
The bais I've dealt with have been hardworking, kind, sly, lazy, nosy, neat, punctual, late, greedy and so on. I just had a tussle with my newest hired help, a dusting maid. She is always late, more interested in gossip than her actual work and is constantly asking for favours. We got into a war of words today, as her work has become shoddier and shoddier by the day. She has a justification for everything and has a tailor-made answer, for every question thrown her way.
At the end of that useless battle, I felt like a pig in muddy water. She is not going to change, I realized. She might quit before I fire her, only to be employed in two other houses. The way my bais talk to me, has me wondering whether I've hired them or they have hired me.
The longer they stay with you, the more they take you for granted. The power is always in their hands, because we can't live without them. Well, we can, but with a lot of backache, knee pain and sore-throat as we are not used to cleaning our toilets or sweeping our floors.
I am grateful to my existing domestic help, who cook and clean for me. I never take them for granted and almost always give in to their demands, even if it is unreasonable. So yes, I am personally responsible for their reckless attitudes and over-confidence. I try my best to maintain a good relationship with them. And, I sort out all their personal issues as much as I can.
(Image Source : https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/indian-housemaid-kamwali-bai-cartoon-character-1434258044)
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