On this Women’s Day special issue, many residents across Noida have written on various topics related to women. One of our editors has penned down the thoughts of a maidservant on her insistence. Here is what she had to say. “There is a common perception that the maidservants come from impoverished, famished and extremely poor families. That we are uneducated, unhygienic, and interestingly we carry virus of various kinds and are responsible for spreading the Covid. Is that so? One part is true. Most of us did not get a proper education or training in skills that could have fetched us a more respectable employment, dignity, and more earnings.
By God’s grace most of our children are getting better education and our husbands have started to ply e-rickshaws or are into better employment. We have started to live in better rooms. Our families dress up for festivals and we surprise the ‘bhadraloks’ when we reach the Puja pandals in real glory, in our e-rickshaws. Their open mouths and unbelieving looks makes us feel good. No doubt being from the lower strata some of the socio-economic ills affect our families, same as they do all over the world, including in the shanties in top class cities of Unites States of America.
Yet we are treated the same way that we were a decade or two back. House Lady still dishes us out stale food, which otherwise she was going to throw in the dustbins. We get food/snacks packets handed over just because their expiry date is over. Our children can read the expiry date and tell us so. We are handed over clothes and other items which are so bad that even beggars at street crossings would hesitate to accept. House owners many times need to throw things out. In developed nations, the residents have to pay for disposing of such items. Here we are seen as natural carriers of unusable items, taking them out of the house. And on top of it, we are told that we are lucky that we are getting such gifts. And we should bow our heads and be grateful.
The donation camp in a Sector was one such occasion when really bad clothes were being doled out. I reached there hoping the times have changed. But no, it was the same old story with the bulk of supplies not fit for a donation. I was feeling ashamed to be standing there as if I was a beggar. Please have some respect for us in future. We are human too, with feelings the same as you.
I thank my employer for listening to me and agreeing to carry my voice over to you. I also mention that amongst the employers, many are just wonderful people. They share the same food they eat, give us fresh food/snacks items to carry home, give us decent clothes and utensils etc (sometimes even brand-new ones). The above message is not for such benevolent people.
