An interview with a maid

She’s a woman, a mother, a wife, and she is a maid too.

The percentage of maids working in Northern India is pretty high. The comfort they provide us, can make our lives incomplete and chaotic if they remain absent even for one single day from our homes. Housewives and sometimes husbands also complain, if their beloved maids miss work for one day. We’ve become parasites, surviving on their presence.

After so much of hard work what they get in return and what respect they get back home is a sad part of their lives. From what background they are coming? Do they live a respectable life? We often find maids very clever, who gossip, irregular at work and unreliable.

There’s a woman whom I know since the time I started walking, who has been working for her kids and family. I find life in her, the kind of hard work she does and the life she leads is a kind of inspiration for people like us and even for the people who have been blessed with good health, but choose to beg rather than working.

After interviewing her life, I felt that if you’ve courage to fight for life, then it will surely bless you. Her name is Guddi. I made her comfortable on a chair to which she was not habitual and the round of questions of the interview followed:

Interviewer: Which place you belong to?

Guddi: Saharanpur. (she sounded unsure about what all was happening)

Interviewer: what is your age?

Guddi: I don’t know the exact year in which I was born, but if I calculate my age according to my children’s age, then I’ll be almost 40 years old.

Interviewer: for how long you’ve been working and when did you start working?

Guddi: I’ve been working for almost 22 years, I started working just after my marriage and then after coming to Ghaziabad, say 19 years back in 1991, I started with work after a gap of 5-6 months.

Interviewer: Did you choose to work or you were asked to?

Guddi: I never wanted to work in the first place, I was asked to.

Interviewer: why you were asked to work?

Guddi: My husband asked me leave his house, if I refused to work. He use to drink and beat me. My kids were foodless and these conditions forced me to work. I use to work earlier as well, when I was with my mother-in-law in Nagad (Saharanpur). But that time I never knew how much I earn. I worked for my in-laws. ( a dip in her voice, at the same time recalling her life)

Interviewer: So how you earn now?

Guddi: 5000

Interviewer: If not work, then what kind of life you wanted?

Guddi: I wanted a good husband and a home, kids and no work. I never worked in my childhood. I led a peaceful now. But now I work for almost 12-13 hours at a stretch. That was not the life that I wanted.

Interviewer: why you work so hard, unlike the other maids.

Guddi: I always wanted to study when I was a kid, but couldn’t because of low income of my dad. But now when I earn , I earn for my kids so that they can lead a respectable life, and they don’t have to work like me, because of education. I don’t compare my life with other maids, I compare it to mine. I work so hard because I like working for my kids, but not for my husband. (she stared out into no where)

Interviewer: why not for your husband?

Guddi: I give him space in my home and food to eat that is enough for that rowdy. He drinks and beat me whenever he likes. Gives me disrespect and sometimes even tries to rape me. He has never given me the love of a husband.

Interviewer: So is it going to remain the same way forever or things have changed for you?

Guddi: Yes, they have changed, because my kids are grown up now. They work for themselves and earn good. They’ve studied and it’s helping them. Now for my husband tries to beat me, my son who is taller than me, stops him there. (she said with an air of confidence in her voice)

Interviewer: what you wish for yourself in life?

Guddi: I wish that my daughter gets a husband. And I remain fit so that I can work for myself and never beg in front of anyone for money. Not even in front of my husband. Mujhe apni roti apne paison se chahiye.

Interviewer: How you feel when you compare your present to your past?

Guddi: I feel happy. I’ve always worked hard and faced worst crisis. But nothing stopped me from working. And it feels good to see the changes in and around me. May god gives me strength to live this life.

Suddenly she interrupted and said “ aey bibi, mujhe jaana hai, kaam reh raha hai, tujhe bhagwaan khush rakhe.”

I broke into a small laugh and let her go.