Maids in India
@allknowing (130066)
India
March 5, 2010 11:09pm CST
There is a dearth of maids in India with construction work being at its peak they are employed there on high wages which include lunch and tea twice in the day and even their absence from work is condoned. They are taken back without a whimper even when they stay away for days as they invariably return to their villages to attend to their farming. With this as the background they are not available for house work and even if they are they demand the same terms as offered to them at construction sites which are prohibitive for a housewife. The living-in-maids is yet another story. Anyone who has entered the portal of a school refuses to work as maids and that leaves the poor housewife between the devil and the deep sea!! In India domestic help is necessary as it is not like in foreign countries where everything is mechanised and fast food is the order of the day. In India food is cooked every single day and house maintenance is a hard chore. How does an Indian working mother cope with the situation? 
2 responses
@Joyoti (8)
• India
10 Mar 10
It is true that getting a good amid whether part time or full time is a chore in itself these days in urban India. With more and more women joining the workforce and with the break up of the Indian joint family system it has become a terrible struggle for young women who wish to pursue careers plus have a home. There can be 2 ways by which we can tackle this problem. Either we have good professionally organized day care facilities within the place of work so that toddlers and school going children can stay there safely till the mother is free to take them home from work.
The other is to change our lifestyle and make it completely mechanized so that the working woman has to do less of physical labour when she returns home from work and instead spend quality time with the children.
It is all easier said than done and I know it but if there is a better alternative, without asking the woman to stay at home, then I'd be glad to know of it.
@achilles2010 (3051)
• India
13 Mar 10
I have no female in the house. I am living with my two sons, who work in shifts. They come home tired and are in no position to do household chores. I have three maidservants. They do everything right from cleaning and cooking. I only see to the grocery and go to the mall to fetch whatever I would need for the fortnight. In India maidservant come cheap, unlike in Dubai it is very expensive to have a maid. My daughters tried to take maids from India but you have to arrange for their visa, even renew it by sending them to Muscat, Bahrain or Doha. Then you have to provide them everything besides, accommodation. I saw they do everything themselves, and their husbands help them around. When they are too tired to cook, they order their meals from nearby restaurants. Oh, you had put up the question to Indian working mothers. Nevertheless, I told you how I have solved my problem.
