Meraj Hamayun Khan

One of the big dilemmas that I face is how to address or introduce my domestic helpers, what title should I give them if and when I have to introduce them to someone. Driver, cook cleaner, sweeper? My driver, my cook/khansama, my cleaner, my sweeper? Or simply Ted to my Kaamwali, hamari Kaameded Wali? In one case, they are reduced to the position of slaves because there is ownership expressed in the title, in the other she becomes a faceless entity only meant to be at the beck and call of the masters to do their bidding in, whatever the nature of the task is. Both hit the very core of a person’s personality, her self-confidence, her self-esteem. It puts her at a disadvantage, she diminishes in size as she weakens in importance. I have often wondered how a woman feels after scrubbing the marble floors of her Ince mistress home, or when she picks up the plate of curry with two rotis placed on top as a lid to take home to her children she left sleeping when coming out for her job. Envious? Sad? Angry/ Belligerent ready to snap at anyone who addresses her? Does she pray for a better fate for herself or does she curse her mistress and her home? Arriving home to the gleeful shouts of welcome from her emaciated but loving children, does she shed the disappointment that she feels with her life? What is the reason for the wide divide in the living standards of these two groups of people the employer and the employee?