res!
P.S: I'm alive, maxine! :)
Hey Maxine! Great topic! You know me well, and you're quite smart (:P), so you must know that all my serious posts are backed by a story. MY story. So, today is no different!
I belong to a typical Indian family.. With a few twists! :P My mum is a working woman, a supermom! She says she worked till three days before I was born, and then started working again before I turned one. this is when she hired an ayah, a nanny for me. I was only 3 months old then. Her name was Shanthamma. I don't know we all called her that. Her real name is Anasuya. But till today, she is Shanthamma for me.
She was a widow. Always donned in plain white sarees which were often stained blue due to the Ujala she used. Amma started going to office, and Shanthamma and I became very close. She used to sing a really weird lullaby to me, not one that you would hear normally. Years passed, I grew up, but shanthamma stayed. She, who actually came as an ayah to our house, soon became an all rounder. She knew how to operate the twin tub semi automatic washing machine, the wet grinder for idli-dosa, she kept the house clean, and waited till my mum came home everyday, and then left. She walked 7 kilometers to and fro everyday for us.
As I went to school, a few more responsibilities came onto her. She pressed my navy blue tunic and white shirt, washed my blue house flaps, polished my shoes, made me wear them (!), oiled and braided my hair, reheated the food by the time I went for lunch everyday.. She loves me. She's a great grandmother now, and still, Apeksha (Me!) is the apple of her eye! :)
Still, I used to fight with her.. A lot! 'SHANTHAMMAA!' and everyone used to know, 'Oh, they're fighting again.. Guess Shanthamma forgot to add three spoons of sugar in Bournvita again!' Everyone of my relatives.. Right to the most distant cousins know Shanthamma, and she remembers their names too.. Although her pronunciation is different! She calls my brother Suraj ,Suresh! Nobody actually noticed, but as I grew up, she grew old.. And she took Voluntary Retirement, with benefits, two years back. Yes, she practically raised me till I became a teenager, till I was 15. She still visits, hugs me tight, saying I'm the most beautiful girl she's ever seen, and always gives me a 5 star.
Right now, she's at home. Because my parents are out of town. Shanthamma is a part of our family. She was since she stepped into that small quarters we used to stay in, in the 90s. I can never imagine life without Shanthamma, and I know she will go some day. I dunno how I will react. But it won't be good. I know that!
Also, she skypes with my relatives whenever she comes home! :P I remember, me and my sis tried to teach her English once. She learnt the alphabet, but we couldn't continue. We just decided that she was too smart and would leave behind all the engineers, the maaliks she worked for! :D
So Vidhya, I don't think there is anything bad or low about being a domestic help. They're great people. They make life all the more beautiful! :) They become so attached to you, they're family! I don't know, and so can't speak about others.. But as far as I have experienced, domestic help aren't any lower than all of us. We all work, we're all slaves. So why the difference?
Whoa! That was long! :P
Edited by appy_12 - 13 years ago
Jhanak
