Yesterday I was working as usual at home and my maid and the cook were doing their work side by side. Being a Friday, I was relaxed and was already looking forward to Saturday evening as I had invited some of my colleagues for tea and snacks. My cook had promised to make the snacks which would help her kick-start her side-business of snacks preparation over the weekends. So, I was not in tension of preparing anything myself and spending the most time in kitchen.
My maid is a very meticulous person, does her work by putting her heart into it. She has 4 daughters and 1 son. Eldest daughter is married and has 2 daughters too. She has got the 2nd and 3rd daughter with her to work in Bangalore. They do not go to school here. And the 4th daughter and the son stay with her mom in the village. She had a small piece of land in the village, but there are other people who are eying it and want that land for selling and making money. She started narrating me her story of how is the only earning member and has to feed her kids and her mother and also her married daughter's kids. Her married daughter's husband does not find enough work and hence doesn't have enough money to buy milk for his daughters and so this maid of mine sends money to her married daughter. I felt so bad on hearing that. I felt to sponsor the milk every month, but then I thought this won't solve the problem. Only if a proper thought had gone into marrying off her daughter to someone just for the sake of it, this wouldn't have been the case where a father doesn't have money to run the house and he has to take help of his mother-in-law. The maid's daughters want dresses worth 3k for the Ramzan id and the maid is refusing to buy as it will add to her woes. The daughters are not happy about it and come everyday with a sullen face. The kids who are in the village go to school and demand new things every month. They see their friends and want it too. So, she has to provide their school fees, dress, books, toys and food to them regularly. I thought to myself, don't people really think when the give birth to kids one after the other? Don't they think once if they will be able to give them a good life when they bring them to this world? Will god really provide food and shelter to each and every of his so-called "blessings"? Isn't it a parents duty to provide food, shelter and education to their kids? But I know my questions will always remain questions as long as there is vicious circle of poverty, unemployment, uneven distribution of wealth, corruption and so on.
My cook had another story to tell me on the same day. Her husband doesn't work and she works from 6 am to 11 pm in the night. She tried to coax him to work as a security guard, but he didn't continue and got tired and left the job. She took him with her to help her in cooking and tried to train him, but he is not ready for that too. She poured all her heart and I could sense the helplessness and anguish, but I had nothing more to offer than listen to her and try to console her. She recently bought an expensive fridge with my help so that she can start a small part-time business of providing snacks over the weekend. They can cut and store things in the fridge and that would help in making the snacks quickly. But he is not interested in that either. She does not understand what to do with him. She thinks his sister and her husband poison his mind. A husband and wife's relation is very strange. They don't spare a single moment to fight with each other and can't really stay without each other. If either a wife or a husband are exploited, then the balance of the marital life goes off and adjustment and cribbing starts. I hope they solve their problem amicably and the husband helps her in her struggle and passion to earn more and have a better life for both of them.
I suddenly realized that no matter where you come from, which religion do you belong to, no matter how much you earn or how educated you are, everybody has their own personal struggle with life, with circumstances, with destiny. Some succeed, some succumb, some are triumphant, some lose it. Some are able to rise above the limitations and lead a comfortable life. Some just feel dejected and give up their hopes and fight half-way. By looking at these two women and after hearing their story, I am convinced once again that a woman can go to any extent to give her family a good life.
I wish them both all the luck.
No comments:
Post a Comment