Maids or slaves?

Hi all,

Can we indians live without a maid? If I ask this question.90% would say " BIG NO".
IF this is the situation, then why we treat them as slaves.Before i start, i would like to tell share some incident happened today.

Today, morning i was waiting my servant maid to come. she came a bit late and she was in a very sad mood.This is unusual.In the past two years, i have never seen her with sad face .She works in neighbours house also and there today is her salary day.
I asked her"why are you sad today".Today is your salary day and you should have been happy"

She replied,"Yes akka, i got my salary today.But she gave me after deducting 300 rs for the 2 days leave.(She was severely sick those 2 days and could not come).

She washes their clothes(4 members),washes vessels,mop floor daily, cleans bathroom and toilet.Irons all the clothes.cuts vegetables and takes care of children for the whole day and keeps rice if the lady comes late from office and house cleaning once in a month.(7 to 8 am) and ( 9 to 6 pm)
All these work, she does for 1800rs/month.
(This smart neighbour lady is a senior manager in a well known multinational company and her husband too works for a leading multinational.)

Just imagine can we get servant maids for this amount for this work.

We need not be vallals like karna.Atleast we can show some humanity towards our own maids who work for us.

Does your company deducts salary if you were on sick leave?.
We go to hotels and spend so much on our apparels, fashion items etc etc,But we do bargain for 1 re to a pookari(flower vendor) or vegetable vendor.So much bulb(chennai bashai) in our face if we get 1 re rebate.

When i was in sad mood , thinking about this lady, one phone call came.Again this was from another lady.my maid's amma works there.She in a very loud voice
"our maid is asking leave on sundays, how can we give 1 day leave for a servant maid.".This irritated me much.I said"No aunty, she needs rest for 1 day.So let her take it.no problem".

I really have one doubt.Are our maids slaves?.They also come for work with great difficulties.

Let us try to understand them.After all, they are the bread winners of the family(because of their drunkard husbands).

We all talk of charity,give donations (This lady too give 000's to a charity organisation.) but for simple people, who work hard for their daily breads?.

Atleast we all should show some humanity to those hardworking people.

Dear Krittika,

You have stirred a very sensitive topic here. I understand that maids are treated very badly . Why just the maids all those people who fall under the low wages category are treated with no respect . You know thats where I find we are very selective in adopting the western culture. There is dignity of labour in the west and each one respects the work and the employee. Here we do not !
I agree with your incident .I have seen it in plenty over here. These guys will deduct a meagre amount from the sal but will go and spend lavishly on some dinner ot something mundane whereas they know that the meagre amount is barely a hand to mouth existence for the maids. Its very unfair .
And the work load , You have to see it to believe the work load that these poor souls are given, They are made to slog themselves off.
Ok there could also be those few who do make you dance to their tunes especially when they know you cant do without them but then thats another story I guess...

Krittika one thing for sure this maid topic is going to get you many responses. Guess you'll be on your feet oops fingers!!

Love,
Devika

Hi Kamala,

You are 100% correct ! People have these kind of double standards in India. But the very same people will be forced to treat and be extremely kind to the house keepers or maids when they live abroad.

They cannot afford to be downright rude or throw tantrums to the working class..since they will be left without help the very next day.

Personally, I've never emplyed maids here..but definitely had one when I was living in Chennai. As you said, we need to treat them with consideration and humanity.
This quality, i take from my mom..because even today she treats her maid like a family member.

Infact, the neighbors, friends and other relatives will be totally surprised when she cooks rice (hot) for the maid before she leaves home. Other than that, she has bought a separate set of containers to be taken home for other side dishes.

Apart from her monthly pay, she also gets money for her commute (auto, bus etc) and new clothes for all festivals and family occassions too!! ofcourse, she is given money during emergency..and takes leave whenever she is sick ( my mom says..after she is also like us).

Most important thing, good coffee will be given for her ( not with the second or 3rd set decoction!!)

But this would be a big topic of discussion and source or amazement for many to this day...and my mom will wonder..why??? What is wrong in treating the maid well..wouldn't we expect to be treated decently when we go out to work?? What is so different in her case?

Having said that, here in US, I have managed without any help so far , but I have seen many people employ cleaning services or housekeepers..and they are/should be treated with respect. There is no question of bargaining with these people as they are total professionals. They themselves come in big cars/vans.

My question is, will people only maintain decorum abroad...and fall back into the category of treating maids as slaves once they are back in India .....since they cannot talk back?? Why this hyprocisy and facade??

A wonderful topic Kamala...and this should definitely make everyone think twice before they illtreat or take the maids for granted ! Sure some sort of awareness should stem for this.

Cheers
Krithika

Hi Krithika,

I totally agree with u! It tears my heart when I see people ill treating their maids! Like u mentioned, they come to work for us, to feed a few stomachs, and becoz they have no other way to do so! How can someone take advantage of maids? Y can't we treat them as human beings too?
We lived in S.Africa for 17 yrs. and had a maid morn. 7 to evening 5, she did everything for us, and we took such good care of her. When we left, she was sobbing uncontrollably. She was with us for 13 yrs., and never wanted to work for anyone else.
Every year we gave her increment, bonus, Christmas gift and all our clothes which we no longer used, but still in gd. condition went to her and her family! Even today I think of her with such gratitude and respect. We left S.A in July 2006 and got the news that she passed away on Nov. 28th 2006. My 12 yr. old and I cried our hearts out, when we got the news. She brought up my child, and she was always there when I needed her, as I was there when she needed my help!
Today, when I think back, it seems like such a perfect give and take relationship, coz both believed in humanity. She treated us as her own, and so did we!
God bless her Soul!

Dear devika,

Very happy to see the first response from you.yes,I do agree, not only maids all people under the low wages category are treated very badly.IN western countries, a car driver or a maid gets the same salary as others and the laws are strict.So we can't even think of scolding them.Here we extract so much from them for a very little salary.

I do agree, a section of them think themselves as queens and most of the days are on leave.we have to run behind them to get our work done from them.My MIL too had a bad maid.She used to take leave for atleast 10 days a month and works with so much laziness.My MIL used to give good hot food and full salary and other benefits too.Sometimes they misuse us.


Thank you very much for posting your views here.I certainly want this to be a popular thread.

Originally Posted by Devika Menon

Dear Krittika,

You have stirred a very sensitive topic here. I understand that maids are treated very badly . Why just the maids all those people who fall under the low wages category are treated with no respect . You know thats where I find we are very selective in adopting the western culture. There is dignity of labour in the west and each one respects the work and the employee. Here we do not !
I agree with your incident .I have seen it in plenty over here. These guys will deduct a meagre amount from the sal but will go and spend lavishly on some dinner ot something mundane whereas they know that the meagre amount is barely a hand to mouth existence for the maids. Its very unfair .
And the work load , You have to see it to believe the work load that these poor souls are given, They are made to slog themselves off.
Ok there could also be those few who do make you dance to their tunes especially when they know you cant do without them but then thats another story I guess...

Krittika one thing for sure this maid topic is going to get you many responses. Guess you'll be on your feet oops fingers!!

Love,
Devika

Hi Kamala,
I agree with your points here.. many people show in-human behaviour towards each other.
You have just stated about one side... how about the maids actions???

PS: I am not offending anybody here... just want to tell about the other side of the coin too.......

I have seen that maids not doing work properly, stealing, being lazy, hiding and eating food etc..

So basically, there are mistakes from either sides.

Regards.

Hi Puni,

Point noted ! Since kamala started the topic about the treatement of maids in general...and not as who is at fault here.

Of course, there are many maids who take advantage of the good nature and totally exploit it by not turning up on time, gosipping and talking back etc.

Since this discussion was just an analysis about the attitude of people having maids and not like a comparison..i guess !!

Having said that, it will be a whole new thread if people want to narrate instances where they have been duped or taken for granted by their maids/helpers etc.

Anyway, if people are not able to manage their maids, then they should not put up with it and stop them..instead of continuing to employ and abuse them. That will lead to unneccessary problems.

Cheers
Krithika (Jithiks)

Originally Posted by puni88

Hi Kamala,
I agree with your points here.. many people show in-human behaviour towards each other.
You have just stated about one side... how about the maids actions???

PS: I am not offending anybody here... just want to tell about the other side of the coin too.......

I have seen that maids not doing work properly, stealing, being lazy, hiding and eating food etc..

So basically, there are mistakes from either sides.

Regards.

NO COMMENTS MADAM...........

Originally Posted by Jithiks

Hi Puni,

Point noted ! Since kamala started the topic about the treatement of maids in general...and not as who is at fault here.

Of course, there are many maids who take advantage of the good nature and totally exploit it by not turning up on time, gosipping and talking back etc.

Since this discussion was just an analysis about the attitude of people having maids and not like a comparison..i guess !!

Having said that, it will be a whole new thread if people want to narrate instances where they have been duped or taken for granted by their maids/helpers etc.

Anyway, if people are not able to manage their maids, then they should not put up with it and stop them..instead of continuing to employ and abuse them. That will lead to unneccessary problems.

Cheers
Krithika (Jithiks)

Dear Krithika,

a nice thread. I too agree with you about the way maids are treated in some houses.

A few years ago, I saw a documentary called "Kutti" in tamil. M.N. Rajam was the evil boss and the young maid was the girl who acted in "kannathil muthamittal"
On this subject of misbehavior of the memsaabs towards the maids, this is worth watching many times.

In my parents' house, we had a guy who was with us for more than 20 years. He used to work in other houses too. My mom would give clothes, medicines and food and treat like any human in the household. I would even teach him to read when he had the spare time.

dear krithika,

you are right.but one thing definite, those people will never get a good maid.Maids won't stay with them even for 1 month and finally they loose money or jewels by employing frauds.

I too give only fresh food to my maid.I too learnt this from my mom.i have never given her Pazhaya sadham.i too give money for deepavali and other festivals and also for her kids school fees.

As you said,May be previous generation showed more respect than we do.

In western countries, this salary diff is not there.Here only very poor people come for these jobs and they depend solely on our meagre salary.THis is the main reason for the attrocities shown on them.

Let us see,if these people will change.

Thanks for posting your views here.very good comments.

Originally Posted by Jithiks

Hi Kamala,

[You are 100% correct ! People have these kind of double standards in India. But the very same people will be forced to treat and be extremely kind to the house keepers or maids when they live abroad.

They cannot afford to be downright rude or throw tantrums to the working class..since they will be left without help the very next day


Personally, I've never emplyed maids here..but definitely had one when I was living in Chennai. As you said, we need to treat them with consideration and humanity.
This quality, i take from my mom..because even today she treats her maid like a family member.

Infact, the neighbors, friends and other relatives will be totally surprised when she cooks rice (hot) for the maid before she leaves home. Other than that, she has bought a separate set of containers to be taken home for other side dishes.

Apart from her monthly pay, she also gets money for her commute (auto, bus etc) and new clothes for all festivals and family occassions too!! ofcourse, she is given money during emergency..and takes leave whenever she is sick ( my mom says..after she is also like us).

Most important thing, good coffee will be given for her ( not with the second or 3rd set decoction!!)

But this would be a big topic of discussion and source or amazement for many to this day...and my mom will wonder..why??? What is wrong in treating the maid well..wouldn't we expect to be treated decently when we go out to work?? What is so different in her case?

Having said that, here in US, I have managed without any help so far , but I have seen many people employ cleaning services or housekeepers..and they are/should be treated with respect. There is no question of bargaining with these people as they are total professionals. They themselves come in big cars/vans.

My question is, will people only maintain decorum abroad...and fall back into the category of treating maids as slaves once they are back in India .....since they cannot talk back?? Why this hyprocisy and facade??

A wonderful topic Kamala...and this should definitely make everyone think twice before they illtreat or take the maids for granted ! Sure some sort of awareness should stem for this.

Cheers
Krithika