Maids form a major part of any Indian household. They are an indispensable lot that people can live without their spouse but not without their maids. Maids are feminine in nature, but most of the housemaids in cities are men. They are classified and named as ‘Ramas’ for unknown reasons. So much so that a person whom I met recently during a launch program happened to be from Dungarpur, a place in Rajasthan where most Ramas originate. He introduced his native with a disclaimer that he is not a Rama. With a Louis Philippe shirt and trouser, an expensive blazer and at the lobby of a four star hotel, I felt like slapping him when he exempted himself from the tribe as if I am a fool not to know that.
They do the daily routine chores like mopping, washing utensils, etc., which are a DIY in any western country. Mops in India are so badly designed that they don’t work under normal circumstances. Dishwashers have not been made for India since cooking here involves a lot of indiscipline, leftovers and the utensils are made of stainless steel, aluminium, copper and metals that a dishwasher refused to accept at one point of time. I am told made for India dishwashers are now available.
But what makes maids so important in an urban life is its over dependency. Cooking is an art long forgotten now. The old method of homemade food is out. Instead, it is now the servant made food that today’s generation have got the taste of. Many traditional food items have gone off the shelves of our home. Our grandmothers are now fed with Pizzas instead of they teaching their good old method of cooking.
