All the world is a stage. And we all are the players, aren’t we. In the drama of running of a household, no one plays a more important role than housemaids. They may be part-time or full-time employees and have sweeping, mopping and cleaning utensils as core activities. More often than not, they turn out to be smart, vocal and incisive with a far-reaching impact on our lives.
Right from negotiating the chaos and joys of their own personal lives to mingling with households where they cook and clean, their plates are ever full. Many of them stand out for regularity and ability to adjust schedules according to family events and workload.
Often, they make suggestions for menu-planning, crockery selection, living room décor and even recipes. I do realise that they decide how much they should persuade Memsahab, Bhabhi or Didi in going the extra mile.
Some maids are the clever, brooding ones. They do come up with a positive contribution, once in a while.
Most maids I have come across have had excellent networking skills, encompassing contacts with milkmen, greengrocers, grocery stores, chemists, cooks and even hairdressers. So, it was not surprising to come across an elderly neighbourhood couple who conveniently benefit from their housemaid’s prowess at booking a cab on their phone.
My personal experience with care-givers serving the elderly has been a learning experience where motivating one another through the challenges has been a constant endeavour. It is equally fascinating to see the support staff ably negotiate their way through the relationships between family members, through observation and interaction. Sincere among them also manage to keep the employers and their families happy.
The benefits of technology have seamlessly been internalised for the tech-savvy. And surely more so for support staff. It is not just about us gifting them our old furniture or used laptop. In times when nuclear families and social distancing govern the way we live, it is the full-time devoted caregiver who takes care of elderly parents and enables them to hold video call sessions with their sons and daughters living far away.
With more and more user friendly applications coming out these days, the drudgery associated with household tasks has reduced. We may have honed our house-cleaning skills during the lockdown and through the subsequent period, but we did miss our maids, didn’t we!
