Let me ask you a question. How often do you give a day-off to your maid?
And if at all you do, is it a paid one?
TBH, most of us allow domestic workers to take a leave only when things get worse. The coronavirus pandemic is one of them.
And this time many of us from the privileged classes, clearly abandoned them. One day, they were just told not to come to work.
And now when things are returning to normal, we sure are expecting them to return to work, but not willing to give them a pay raise.
Like this Gurgaon woman who posted her experience with her house help on a Facebook group, when she asked her to return to work.
Now there are so many problematic aspects about this post.
1. She is a 12-hour maid. She should definitely be paid more. This is a fucking pandemic.
2. Just because her maid asked for more salary, the woman thought that she had the audacity to hurt her.
3. Although the maid was good with her household chores and kids, the woman says that maids are good only until you are good with them.
4. She says despite giving them all they want, they throw tantrums. No woman, you did not give her all she wanted.
The post clearly shows the mindset of the entitled elite class of India and Twitter is calling out the woman for her attitude.
This is the sad reality of our country’s elite class. Reports also suggest that 85% of domestic workers weren’t paid during the lockdown period.
And now when we want them to return to work, let’s show empathy, if not more.