Domestic Help

I was born in New Delhi, India; ever since I was born, my parents/grandparents have always had a maid who does the cooking and cleaning and a driver who is a chauffer and cleans the car. This is something that has been a part of my life since I was born, so it's not a thing that frustrates me about our society. However, in December, I went to India to visit my grandparents. After hugging and kissing them for the first 5 minutes of my arrival in our home, I went around the house to see how it had changed since the last time I had visited. I ran into a maid, she was very shy, so I did not bother her. When I returned back to my grandparents, I asked them what her name was. To my surprise, they couldn't remember her name!

At that point, I was furious. To have someone cleaning a house that one lives in, to cook the food that one eats, and not know her name, it was shocking. I confronted my grandparents, and after realizing the amount of trust they gave to a complete stranger, they not only tried to know more about her, but were more cautious. Perhaps, this is just in India, but the gap between the homeowners and the servants is huge; it's not just about not eating on the table with the family. Though, with time, these ties do get cemented, the beginnings are very harsh.