Service

Just fresh from reading Arpz's blog.Let me just type out something before the inspiration dies and I slip into my mundane routine. I have been diligently waiting for this handy laptop to resume blogging.Blogging with no manager shoulder surfing what I am writing. With no fear, and with the ability to publish anything anyday working or otherwise. My employer has thoughtfully given this amazing equipment so that we can work no matter when.I am willing to take that bargain. What do I write about? Hmmm.. My new job (Its been eight months but since I haven't written about it, I guess I can still call it new) .Ya my new job. It's better than the last one, or I know better now than I did then. So what do I like about my new job? The timing is great. My shift starts only at 1:30 pm which means even if I do feel lazy in the morning, I still have time for an attitude shift before I miss my cab.My team is small and have dedicated people.My work seems good. Looks like I am doing what I read in a lot of experience columns in job opening emails. There are no daily thresholds .No over pressure.No boring "escalation-prevention" meetings. And then the ultimate luxury, we have a room to pray. Now that comes as the biggest blessing for me with our 5-times-a day praying routine.And not having a place in office means I have to finish it all off together . Now that's reason enough to love my job I guess. So now for the REAL stuff! Something has been cramming me and my roommate's life for these past days . My maid didn't show up for THREE WEEKS! with no prior notice.Due to which all I can think about now is how important she is to me . (Ya ya, I know kannulapol kannite velayariyoola* Read below for translation) I have heard and read about abuse of maids and how slaves and servants were ill treated in yesteryears and even now. All I can wonder is HOW! How can u ill treat or abuse someone on whose mercy we live.On whose mood swings and cramps our clean clothes and fresh rooms depend. Me and my roommate have spent quite sometime last week praying, breaking coconuts,Doing Reiki etc etc for her to come back into our lives with clean clothes.As if this was not enough she seems super busy on her return,I have to chase her every morning,always wondering if it would be better if I got her a mobile, I could avoid running around climbing 5 floors searching for her.And then plead to her in my broken hindi about the plight of our room. After all this I now know why my mom chose not to have a maid all these years.I think dependence is something we all have been escaping from.Now women don't need to depend on their husbands for money, but how many people are we depended upon to get our daily stuff done.If I start writing about my ironwala and the amount of vacation he takes,I could fill up ten other pages.Anyway he works only for about 10 days a month and then he disappears, this especially when all my clothes have been washed(with my maid's mercy) and now I cant wear them cause they are crumbled. I know that the human society is inter dependant for its services.I get paid when I allocate storage so that the applications can fill it up with data. And I pay these people for providing me with pressed clean clothes and a fresh room.But if my application runs out of space,I get called upon even in the middle of the night to look into it.I provide my service 5 days a week and even on some weekends . I have to plan ages before I take a long leave.There are millions of dollars at stake if my work doesnt get done on time or gets delayed for even a day. But is it ok if my bathroom looks dirty for few days.Is it ok if my clothes aren't pressed when I want them to be? Is it ok if these people disappear for weeks on end without a warning or a replacement? I know I shouldn't compare.After all I get paid much more than they do. If any maid abuser happens to read this, please let me know how you do it. HOW! P.S: I have heard that my ironwala owns a bungalow somewhere in his hometown and he resides there as a king :) *"We dont realise the value of eyes when we have it" is the closest translation of this malayalam proverb. If there are any similar english proverbs please let me know