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Life Style Changes With Domestic Staff

Discussion in 'Snippets of Life (Non-Fiction)' started by sln, Apr 2, 2019.

  1. sln

    sln Platinum IL'ite

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    LIFE STYLE CHANGES WITH DOMESTIC SUPPORT STAFF

    When the door bell rang a few days back, I opened it to see a little girl , angelic and radiant,may be around seven years,smartly dressed in jeans,a check shirt and a jacket.I said yes?.She replied clothes and repeated clothes.I was nonplussed and asked her what clothes?She replied Ramanappa.This added to my confusion.The puzzle was solved by my grand daughter-she has come to collect clothes for ironing-she is Isthiriwallah Ramanappas daughter.Just then Ramanappa made his majestic appearance and introduced his daughter.Ramanappa is an important man in our complex.Children going to school depend on him as they crowd him to collect their ironed clothes.I have suggested that he should have a change room so that children can change and run to catch the bus while the parents are cajoling the driver to hold on.Ramanappa is keen to see that his daughter gets well educated and start her life well.He strains every nerve to work extra hours to afford her education in a good English medium school.

    Now enters Bhuvana our maid in her mid thirties.She is proud of being fair and good looking.Now and then she would utter some English words and when questioned would say she studied in an English medium school upto standard seven.One day she said that she would like to introduce her eight year old son to me and take my blessings.When the boy came,I was debating as to how to greet him when the boy extended his hand and said” I am Rohan studying in third standard”.I was impressed to say the least.He liked reading Amar Chitra Katha,play street foodball with his friends and concentrated on playing chess.Iasked him don’t you watch TOM and JERRY? He said that was for the nursery children and he liked to watch Discovery channel,the forests,the animals and birds.I was thrilled and mentally wished the boy all the luck in the world.We lost touch with Bhuvana after shifting to Bangalore.On my visit to Chennai a year later some one shouted uncle.I turned back to find Bhuvana immaculately dressed with goggles,hand bag and a smart phone with head set.She volunteered the information that she was working with an IT company.I imagined that she had learnt coding but her job was to clean the glass windows,partitions etc.She was paid well and got subsidised food.She could also buy and take snacks for her son returning from school.The icing on the cake was that she was expecting her promotion,as the supervisor needed her help in communicating with the other staff who knew only tamil.

    The septic tank in my house on the outskirts of Chennai had to be cleaned. There was no mechanical way of emptying the septic tank fifteen years back.The effluent water had to be lifted with a bucket tied to a rope.Narasimha the specialist was called.I thought to myself that he would charge Rs five hundred but I would show him my magnanimity and offer him Rs.eight hundred.To my utter shock he quoted Rs,two thousand five hundred and when reprimanded.he said the quote consisted of two elements-one for the labour and the other that I cannot do this job and had to depend on him.My wife shut me up when I said I would follow the Gandhian principle and do the job myself as after all Two thousand five hundred rupees was a lot of money.He thanked me when I paid him on completion of the job and said he had to rush the cash to Nellore where his son was doing third year Engineering and staying in the hostel.I was moved so much with this information that I gave him Rs,one thousand extra with my blessings to the boy.

    These are examples of the aspirational group trying to come out of their misery and make their progeny a part of the developing world.They are also becoming technosavy.Any problem with my cell phone my driver solves it.My news paper delivery boy installed Bhim application for me.Driver and maids get their salary transferred to their bank account.Isthiriwallah carries a swipe machine and accepts cretit cards for payment.I am still not comfortable with GPS while the taxi driver lands you at the exact spot where you wanted to go..Many in this group opt for wall mounted LCDs to save space.Most of the free lance technicians worm their way through traffic with their Hero Splendour motor cycles costing around Sixtyfive thousand rupees.Chidren go to good schools thanks to RTE and double income[both husband and wife working.].Name the gadget-they have it.You chuck some one out you have to struggle to get a replacement whereas this person is grabbed in minutes by somebody else.Days of this luxury of having some one at your disposal are numbered.This will be an extinct species for the next generation.

    Dream and aspiration drive people to come out of the morass and head towards a better and affordable way of life.Information explosion has made the have nots understand the other world they have not seen.Let us, as better placed humans help them to reach a better world not by giving alms but providing guidance and ammunition to hit the target. Dont give them fish but teach them how to fish.”’ Let us not judge people by what they are but what they would like to be.”

    PS-I might have mentioned some examples in my earlier blogs but need to be repeated as the pace of change is becoming faster and are relevant to the subject.
     
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  2. Afresh

    Afresh Gold IL'ite

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    This is a very nice write up, written straight from the heart, depicting changes as you see and perceive in our country today.
    There definitely is development when we see the movements of the so called urban poor; People in the big cities, with their exposure level are definitely aspiring, dreaming and realising higher now.
    Also, i think with the advent of internet and phones in almost all lives, there is movement also within the rural areas.

    This is the new India, where the aspirations of he populace now are looking up. However, on the supply side when we talk about jobs commensurate with people's education level, they are not upto expectations.

    Engineering graduates, now , can't automatically assume to join in to the white collar tribes only on the basis of their degrees, as was the case a generation or two earlier.
    On the up side, wages for Labour and any skills requiring manual effort are now rising from where those levels measured earlier. It still though is a long walk, and our nation definitely need to catch up with aspirations to deliver satisfied citizens :)
     
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  3. Amulet

    Amulet IL Hall of Fame

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    I know people in the informal sector .... of the variety described here.
    Because the overall economy has become better, there is much opportunity in the sectors supplying the "good life" to the people who are into such a thing. After all, what is the point of money, and working hard for it, if you cannot hire the professionals to serve you for a fee.

     
    shyamala1234 likes this.
  4. sln

    sln Platinum IL'ite

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  5. rgsrinivasan

    rgsrinivasan IL Hall of Fame

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    Very nicely narrated @sln sir. In fact it is the people from non-urban places who know the new schemes of government and how one can benefit from it and how to even avail it. Besides, we have a house-maid who is always well dressed and comes in a scooty with her goggles on and earphone connected. So I can connect well to this blog. Your advice was quite spot on. I do help at times and that is more from a financial front. -rgs
     
  6. sln

    sln Platinum IL'ite

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    Dear Afresh,
    Many call the current phenominon as underemployment and not unemployment.Surprisingly none of the nine educated youth in our family group is unemployed.As Narayanamurthy of infosys fame declared that a major percentage is educated but not employable.News papers as a means of information and improvement of communication skills has been consigned to the dustbin.The principal source of information[gossip]is the social media.
    SLN
     
  7. sln

    sln Platinum IL'ite

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    You are right.Specialists will spring up and prosper only when we encourage them.There is however an increasing tendency of these specialists to take advantage of hapless senior citizens living by themselves.
    Thanks
    SLN
     
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  8. sln

    sln Platinum IL'ite

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  9. sln

    sln Platinum IL'ite

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    Dear RGS,
    It is quite nice to see well dressed maids rushing to their job when we go for morning walk.Wages in our complex are per hour.They dont have time to fill in for an absentee maid.They switch on the dish washer when exceed the daily quota.Drivers take up a job only after ascertaining the make and model of the car.A stay in servant in our neighbours house got her Tv in the servant room with remote on her insistence.Those who are conscious of the changes will find it difficult in the years to come.This is not to deviate from our focus on helping this segment for a better future.
    Regards.SLN
     
  10. satchitananda

    satchitananda IL Hall of Fame

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    This is very true. It is indeed a joy to see these parents strive to educate their children. However, there are some children, who want everything easy and do not wish to study. They expect heir parents to kill themselves trying to fulfill all their aspirations. Well, I suppose it takes all sorts to make the world. Sure, it is indeed desirable that we try to give these people a hand up. This is why I find it galling when political parties talk of giving freebies to people 'below the poverty line'. How does that encourage them to work hard and achieve something in life?

    Talking of education, there was a time when educated young people were running from pillar to post to get good jobs. Even so called 'good' jobs paid a pittance. It is good to see that people with some basic level of education are finding ways to find employment which pay reasonably and if they are enterprising enough, they can climb the ladder to success.
     
    Last edited: Apr 2, 2019

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