Sure , we had all the trappings of a civilized existence - the durables , furniture etc etc , but we were the sort of people who ate out 5 days a week and had to scurry to hide things under the bed when guests came !
We were , ahem , fortunate to have the services of a maid named Kohinoor who breezed in , splashed some water on the dishes , added to the pile of things under the bed and daintily touched some parts of the floor before she breezed of . This , of course , was on the days she graced our home with her presence
Cut to present ...
Our home is really prettily kept , neat and tidy at most times.Even Inlaws coming over requires at best fresh towels in the bathroom .We eat meals that range from Biryani on weekends ( home cooked ) to , and perhaps more importantly nutritionist certified meals on weekdays with salads and the works ..
As much as I would like to claim that the entire credit goes to me , my conscience forbids it .
When we moved to Mumbai three years ago we had heard about the unparalleled efficiency of the Mumbai Bai - the housemaid .
But that didn't prepare us for Usha - my maid and the reason I can go out of the house every morning -leaving my pajamas on the bathroom floor , teacups on the dining room table , and a pile of dishes in the kitchen , assured that when I come back I will find a neat and tidy house and a (usually ) decent meal.
Usha lives with her family ( daughter , son and husband - an office peon ) in a semi pucca house constructed in the compound of a police station near our old house ( about half an hour from our present one )
The four of them share 2 rooms and a bathroom with her brother in law and his family . She has had a tough life - married early , her husband is a bit of a loafer so has been unemployed off an on , lost one child at the age of three months , knows that her house is an illegal construction and can be demolished any day , leaving them without a roof over their heads because her mother in law left everything to her other son .
And yet , she is not one to feel sorry for herself or even content with her lot . She recognizes that fate has dealt her an unfair hand , but is determined that tomorrow will be better for her and her family .. not because of luck or someone else ,but because of what she can do .
When her husband lost his job after their kids were born , she was firm in saying that she will start working , and she did , five jobs that kept her busy from dawn till late evening , but kept her household running.
She works with extreme commitment , and is extremely intelligent , so people were willing to pay her more , and someone even offered her a job for her husband ( which he took )
Today she is earning well ( I pay her twice the normal rate for a maid ), and she has a couple of other small jobs as well
She has made me open a separate bank account for her where she deposits half her salary (wise enough to know that she needs to have independent financial security . She is ensuring that her daughter does well in school - she has employed a tutor for her , to whom she pays the full fees ( Rs 500 per month - refusing the discount the tutor offered) because she doesn't want any compromise in the quality Bhavna gets .Usha is making her husband invest in a house in the outskirts of Mumbai - taking a loan to do this , and she plans to put it out on rent . (She decided to do this after asking me in great detail why Sandeep and I have bought a house in Delhi when we don't live there)
When people speak of the modern Indian woman , its easy to think first of the woman who is making her hold stronger in the corporate world and urban society, going places that she hasn't gone before, speaking her mind and making new rules .While that is the more visible change , and certainly one to be proud of ,there are many more Ushas across the towns and villages of the country .
Women who believe that they are not bystanders who will watch their lives go by , but will step out and shape their future. Women who refuse to be constrained by their circumstances . They are the ones who most deserve the applause...
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