The "Bai" Saga

I wonder if the next big thing after the Saas - Bahu genre is going to be the "Bai Times". Its crazy but we are so utterly dependent on our domestic help around here. And no matter how good you are to them, how much you pay, how many goodies you give away trouble always brews up.

So I employ a mother - daughter duo who take turns and come. Sometimes if they get late, both of them turn up together. But if someone thinks that having two instead of one is a respite, well think again! The peaceful saturday morning started with me jolting out of sleep to realize that the "Bais" aren't here. They are supposed to touch base at 8.30 am every morning, including weekends. Whats more, the two had bunked work yesterday.

So Ram ka naam lene ke pehle, I had to call up these domestic helps to please come over. That's how life is for the modern, independent women, I guess. I have read quite a few articles on the kind of impact these guys have on our lives. And  Shobha De was probably correct when she mentioned that these domestic maids are the new angels, we just cant compromise on the help that we get.

So while I gave them a pep talk on why it was important to
a) Inform  us before taking leaves,
b) To turn up on time on the next day of an unannounced leave,
the mother kept working and the daughter kept throwing dirty glances at me. Somehow they could not appreciate the cold facts being delivered to them in a calm tone. I wasn't irate, i wasn't yelling or complaining but still, they could not appreciate the efforts i was taking to get my concerns across.

I mean even if they understood that their Indian - Stretchable - Time entries and exit made life difficult for us, their regular excuse of "hum toh aaye the - par taala laga tha" or their taken for granted attitude of "baju wali bhabhi ke paas chabi hai na, hum log kaam karke chale jayenge" was unfair, would they admit it?

My efforts in the past of passing my phone number in papers and visiting cards of various sizes, number written clearly in large fonts did not seem to work. My initiative of feeding my phone number into their mobile also didnt seem to work. So after the episode today, I took their phone number, fed my phone number, assigned a speed dial and taught them how to operate. I hope technology comes to rescue this time around.

The fact being that in Mumbai, maids are hugely in demand and the ones who come in before the office timing are prized and highly sought after has not escaped my mind. I know that fussing over the irregularities may cause them to go underground for like a week claiming "ill - health", much to my roomy's horror. But I refuse my life to be controlled by these rather indispensable characters of the household. I would have some discipline and regularity or go without them totally. I mean do I need to start every morning by pulling out dirty dishes and washing the utensils even for the all - important First Cup of Tea of the day. Well I dont think so.

Lets see how things work out now...