For nearly four weeks, my better half and I had been discussing whether to have a resident house-help or not.
Ten years away means we are totally comfortable doing the household chores. It also means that we are quite used to a flat with just the three of us in it.
But the average accommodation in Delhi is much bigger than that in London or Reading. And they are made of concrete with low railings in the balcony. My ever-energetic little girl (bless her) is likely to get hurt if one of us wasn't keeping an eye on her. Also, the houses attract a lot of dust and the weekly cleaning schedule isn't good enough.
Our original plan was to hire domestic help who would come in to do household cleaning daily and, maybe, prepare a meal or two. The landlady had spoken highly of the maid working at her place and my little girl took a liking to the maid too. We thought that even if she kept an eye on our girl, we can sort out the chores ourselves.
It turned out to be just a sales pitch. Within a day of us moving in, the maid had got engaged. She didn't bother to come for work or to inform us. After two hours of waiting, it seemed easier to finish off the chores and be in control of the day. My wife did the cleaning and took the little one to the park in front. The maid was there, talking to her fiance on the mobile phone. No apologies. No Oh I forgot. No I will come later. Just a smile and on with the conversation.
The other two lasted a day each as well. Their reporting time was extendable by upto four hours, and it was much easier doing the chores ourselves. We could finish off within an hour and save three hours in the process. The maids couldn't understand the fuss, when everyone else was fine if they would just turn up.
Engaging domestic help in Delhi can be time-consuming and stressful. From my limited experience of watching my Mum and her friends, it involved keeping an eye on the maids working in friends' houses, identifying a good maid, luring her away with a better salary, trying to guard her from other friends and hoping the process didn't start again.
Like everything else in India, it is supply-side market. No matter what price you pay, the service will be less-than-acceptable. The supplier knows there is high demand and relatively little competition. The one demanding a service has to work out a way to keep the supplier suitably interested in working.
During my yearly visits, I have seen my Mum go through at least two maids. Mum would cajole, bribe and threaten them. Even made sure that the maid had a nice cuppa and something to eat when working at our house. But the maids would realise there were more people in the house - hence more work - and would suddenly feel unwell regularly.
A week of trying a non-intrusive help for household chores, and we had to give in. My wife's Mum sent someone from Lucknow to help us out with the household chores. She arrived on Wednesday and Tara took instant liking to her. She even thanked her Mum for "getting me a new sister".
It has barely been 24 hours, but the girl seems good. She sits patiently as Tara recites all the nursery rhymes - I had a little turtle, One cheeky monkey, Row row row your boat etc - and talks about her Baba, Dadi, her uncles/aunts and her cousins and anything else she would care to listen to.
And she is good with cooking too. I have home-cooked lunch for the first time since I reached Delhi.
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