MAID my day!

Today I got myself a maid to do the house chores. She is a typical maid woman, who likes to gossip! In India, there is a practice of having maids to do the household chores like washing clothes, utensils, sweeping & wiping the floors. It is fine for me to do it once in a while, but to do it regularly is quite a physical & mental stress; at least for me. Before when I lived with my parents, they always had a maid & it wasn’t really my task to keep a check on the way she works; was my mom’s problem. Now after having my own house and a maid, it is a bit awkward. Personally, I find it way too weird to have an elderly woman cleaning my house & things. It’s a cultural thing for me; very awkward to find mistakes & mention the corrections to the older lady. So it is really difficult for me to act like the boss or be one, literally.

Day 1 went ok. She washed the utensils well. The sweeping is a bit “pcch”!!! So she is kinda tall like me & the way she swept the floor was, just touching the tip of the broom to the floor. Pcch! No wiping today as she wants a cloth & we have a mop-stick! I was lenient on that saying she could do it from tomorrow. She washed the clothes pretty fine too. Just when she was done & set to leave, she mentioned “As you are just 2 people, you will have fewer clothes. So soak them to wash once in 2 days”. Now, I am wondering who the BOSS is!!!! Like I mentioned, I am not really comfortable giving orders, so for now, I just nodded saying “Sure! “

Indian maids are an extra-ordinary species of humans! The most sweet-taking, most gossiping, very smart to put things subtly into your minds and make you dance on their notes! But again I am not generalizing. Commonly, they would be like I mentioned. So I made a point to my maid today that I am not of the kind to sit & discuss stories from the neighborhood, which she accepted to be correct. Yet, she discussed with me stories from the neighbors! J Well, it was day 1 so I don’t want to make too many conclusions, all I want is my work done neatly with least amount of discussion or arguments. At the end of the day, I & Radha the maid, have to be happy with each other. So we’ll see how it goes from tomorrow. God help me!

PS: We mutually agreed on a salary of 500/- per month ($11). I bargained from 600 to 500 J. Again, I am too bad at bargaining, just can’t do it. A MUST KNOW skill in India! I just nod to any quoted price anywhere! A shopping dummy!