Mom and Maid

Now you thought your mom had competitive relations with the only other women in your life, your wife.

“who else”, you ask.

even though there is no other women in my life yet, i was still sandwitched in a duel where the parties were my mom and a women in house (not in my life though).

this other women is my maid, who is above fifty (let me state this at the very start)

here’s what happened.

the maid was having a good time at our house. there were two bachelors ready to compromise with whatever she prepared for food and howsoever she kept the house. as mentioned in one of the posts earlier, we weren’t happy with her performance. but there was no choice (these days it is so difficult to get a trustworthy maid).

enter mother. she is here on vacation with her eldest son and daughter in law.

it was difficult to convince her to continue the services of the maid. the concerns are of course on usual lines – the maid belongs to a backward caste. “mom, she has been working for long. did god bring any misfortune to us until now.”

finally she agrees to continue the maid. but she will not be allowed to touch every thing in the kitchen. the maid will only prepare chapatis and wash dishes.

good for the maid. but not for her ego though. how can someone give her orders?

one who seldom absented herself for duty now disappeared without notice. one night there were some guests and the maid was no where to be seen. another day, the maid absented without notice for two days at a stretch. the extra work fell on mother and bhabhi.

mom was already furious at the maid. these instances served as fuel to the fire. can’t she sweep the house regularly? shouldn’t she mop up the house at least twice a week? how much time would that take? she hardly fries the spices; thats why the curry tastes so bad. her chapatis are always burnt. she seldom washes the dishes well.

Me: “mom, most of the things that you talk about are not her duty”, i say. “would your sons do anything more than what is described in their job description?”

Mom: “oh! so you are trying to take sides with this maid”

Me: “who said this”, i say defending myself

but mom is not convinced.

Me:”it’s ok then”, i say. “just tell her to leave from the next month onwards.”

Mom:”why next month? why not tomorrow or maybe today. there is still 10 days for the month to end.”

Me:”mom she is just like us – an employee to someone. how can you ask her to leave at such short a notice?”

Mom: “so what”

Me: “how will she find job so soon?”

Me: “and how will we find another good maid so soon”

Mom: “good maid! my foot”

Me: “at least she never steals anything from house”

Mom: “so you are again taking sides”

i am gagged. saying anything will also find me no repreive. i leave the results of the duel to time.

time surely proves to be a better judge. the maid is still working with us – two years since the time mom visited us. the duels continue each time mom is back to delhi, but i do ensure that i am never sandwitched again.