Lockdown dates kept varying, with steady growth in electricity & phone bills. What was consistent, were the conversations about the domestic help irrespective of the gender of the person on the other side of the phone. All of us had a common question, ‘Do you have House-help?’, ‘When is your maid joining back?’, ‘Who is doing what chores in the family?’ No wonder, Indian society is dependent on cooks like Ramu kaka & dishwashing machine Saku bai. To add on a few statistics, 15/26 calls on my birthday last month, I discussed which member of the family had temporarily changed their occupations to washing dishes, ironing clothes & dusting the house. Lockdown birthday it was!
In 1928, Indian leaders boycotted the Simon commission with the slogan “Simon go back”. And herein, 2020, since there was no point protesting ‘Corona go back’ to China, our impinged shoulders and broken backs started to yell, ‘Maids come back’. However, the repercussions of no source of external house-help were significant. Here is my take on it.
- MAJOR MISSING:
“Mom, Radha didi did these dishes for just 2000rs for the entire month?”
It all started with missing our dear maid, the way they worked with occasional complaints, for the petty amount of money. Of course, our moms missed them more seeing the quality of work put up by the family after a thousand reminders. And we were now direct victims of what our helpers felt while having to deal with a flooded sink & swimming dishes. About my mom, she missed the meal she served them daily, and the leftover food they carried home without any hesitation.
Looking at the rate of exchange of WhatsApp messages between mom & Radha didi, I realized Radha didi misses our family as well & I guess, I shouldn’t be surprised if she joined Instagram, posting a picture of our family with a hashtag: #majormissing.
Dear China, you are responsible to make us realize the importance of both, Made in India & Maid in India. What is next on the list, Mr. Xi Jinping?
- UNPAID WORK:
“All work and no pay makes Jackie a housewife.”
According to a 2015 survey by the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development, an Indian woman does far more “unpaid work” – nearly six hours each day on average – than her peers in most other countries. Indian men, on the other hand, spend less than an hour each day.
With lockdown, for the first time, the hierarchy of chores, personal likes & dislikes, strengths & weaknesses were discussed with gender hanging lower on the priority scale for designation of unpaid home-work. So, along with the slogan, ‘Maids come back’, my eardrums also vibrated with the information about men doing dishes & mopping the floor. I am hopeful, this could have significantly contributed to change the above-mentioned numbers in future surveys.
Talking about myself, my better half has started to apply his negotiating skills to the vegetable vendor. Soon, I will not be surprised if the veggie guy, waves ‘Hi’ to my better half and refuses to even identify me.
- MA DA LADALA SUDHAR GAYA:
“There is no chance for the welfare of the world unless the condition of women is improved. It is not possible for a bird to fly on only one wing”.
– Swami Vivekanand
This makes me think there is no formal training in the school unless one opts for a home-science class in college which most Indians tend to believe is for girls. All the momma’s boys here is your chance! Grab the opportunity to learn the art of house-keeping which will be handy at all times if you would like to see a developed India. This hands-on housekeeping crash course during lockdown has made some of you boys eligible for marriage with smarter working women. Besides, you won’t have to stay hungry when your wife is in a boxing mood. ‘Ma da ladala sudhar gaya’ is a phrase at least Grammarly won’t let me write it without red lines, not yet, I guess! But still hopeful!
- THE PROUD SHOWOFF:
There is a continuous influx on Instagram, by celebs and non- celebs putting up stories about cleaning their houses & dainty baked products; I wonder if some of their houses might have turned into a bakery by now. An interesting observation here was that younger generation men spoke about their challenges & experiences doing household chores without any hesitation. There seemed to be comfort & more positive humor in the discussion which was not the case a few years back. I do not know if it was the celebs or the boredom, but for some reason, it worked in favor of pushing the boundaries of gender equality. The difference was this time the equality is not for paid work but unpaid home-work.
Maintaining a home is a full time, underrated, unpaid & unrecognized art that needs mental & physical presence every day. I am sure that year 2020, will be remembered in history for many things, one of them being the No maid in India movement. This movement has diluted the thought amongst Indians that household chores should be done by women only & led to the inception of sharing the workload at home by both partners.
In the world where we all want to be first, I made sure I am not lagging in this field. Just like wearing a mask is #thenewnormal, I am hopeful that sharing the house-work-load by men and women equally would soon trend as #thenewnormal. So keep trending!
– Dr. Unnati Jain.
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