I don't even need to mention how important a role kaam wali baee or a maid servant plays in the life of an Indian woman. Its easy to manage without the husband for few days but without a baee...even a single day is impossible! Life comes to a standstill without her. Nevertheless, even madame baee very well understands her importance in our lives and when people with little minds and big arrogance feel they are important for some reason, the arrogance reaches cloud 9. The same has happened off late with my baee.
I still remember the 'one fine day' when we moved into this apartment. While i was still settling down & unpacking things, bang on the door she was! GOD knows how she sniffed the new comers in the new flat and came looking for the job. But I was more than happy to have got a maid without getting to hunt for one. Another 5 minutes with her and I realized that if this lady was going to work for me, I had to put up with few things like her constant meaningless chatter , her arrogance and I had to bear in mind that she was going to be the boss. Still,overwhelmed with the feeling of getting a baee so easily, i put her on my payroll and happily closed the chapter with a 'feeling blessed' status for rest of the day.
Comes the next day and she says, "itne paise me itta nahi hoga didi. bagal ke ghar me to double offer kar rahe hain(i can't do all that you want in this much money, the flat next door is offering me double the amount)". All my dreams seemed to be shattered in a moment. But through all the harshness of my capricornian life, one thing that I have resolved for is not to give up easily. I told her she could leave because I was offering her the best I could, and right upfront I announced to her that even in case I was not going to get another maid, i will do all the work myself, as i knew very well that the next thing she would do was to scare me off with the threatening to not allow any other maid to enter my premises (although I only know how scared i was inside!!!). To my relief, she decided to continue.That was followed by a series of crockery shattering, broom breaking etc. which I don't want to cover here (I just realized i actually have enough material for a novel!)
Now an year has passed, and things have been moving smoothly, of course on the cost of few adjustments, like, she comes on her own time and leaves on her own time - we dare not ask any questions about that. She rarely comes on sundays, if she really feels to shower us with her blessings, she will show up on some sundays. we are not supposed to mention it as its her unofficial holiday. she demands a new broom and floor cleaner every month, and a new soap bar every third day - no questions to be asked. If a guest arrives - she asks us a million questions like how many, for how long, etc. etc. and we comply. She can be on leave of absence anytime and anyday without prior notice and the number of days are not fixed. We dare not cut her pay or ask her harshly about it. Then there are days when the boss doesn't seem to be in such a good mood when she arrives at work - ofcourse her domestic life is also full of the general domestic problems that each one of us faces and that grows at times out of proportion - so she can't be blamed for the bad mood, and then who else will she get to unleash her frustration on than us the poor beings, and our utensils. God, you should see the beating she gives to the utensils the day her mood is bad!! At times, in my imagination, she is like that wicked witch with a broom who can curse us to hell anytime she decides to board her broom and fly out of the window while we watch helplessly.
But then yesterday my mom voilated one of the treaties. I can't completely blame her, afterall she is also human and most of the days she is the one dealing with the boss and facing the heat.
So it all started with the maid showing up early that day, when mom asked her why her timings were so irregular. Ofcourse madame baee was offended. She said (with this hidden warning) that there were timing conflicts happening and she had to quit from one or the other house work by the end of the month. Now it was mom's turn to get offended and the war of words started. I was happily working in office , unaware of the great turmoil at home. As soon as I came back and stepped in, mom unleashed her dissatisfaction about the maid. Now, it was my turn to take sides, control the situation, and discuss with mom on what to do.This is not the first time such a situation had arrived, but the irony of the situation struck me fully yesterday.
After a 1 hour discussion with mom finally the conclusion was to continue with her as the pain of getting a new maid and ensuring she was as good as the current one, seemed to overshadow the pain of dealing with the current one!!! What if the other maid that comes takes even more leaves, she is not honest and steals things, she asks for advance money now and then. At least the current one doesn't do all this! Obviously, We are the human race who is always afraid of changes and to explore the unknown, and on top of that we are middle class service oriented private servants ourselves, so, we are used to these nagging from bosses. So, finally we also shed our frustration by talking and discussing things for couple of hours and then got back to our normal lives! The day crisis strikes and boss quits, I will muster some courage, take control of my sinking domestic life ship and hire another commander for it..till then I should perhaps just chill!!!!
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