Lockdown and the sufferings of the domestic-helps
By Venkatesh Raghavan
It’s time we take a look at how the Maximum city’s social support system has crumbled under the pressure of lockdown and continued travel restrictions. It all began with a four-hour deadline for everyone to stay indoors on March 24. The maid servants, the house-helps who handle the cooking and even the garbage collection women who knock your doorbell had to abruptly shut shop and stay put within their locality.
This is not a story about revenue loss or even crippled labour problem. It’s the story of severe suffering that the domestic-helps underwent, with no means to sustain themselves. Maya, the house help who also pitches in to make chapatis tells her story, while recalling what her school going children and husband had to go through since the lockdown commenced on March 24.
Also read: Beneath the sheen of the tinsel town-3
यह भी पढ़ें : लॉक डाउन की कहानियां भाग 9: जब सिर्फ ₹ 1000 दे गरीब को बनाया गुलाम
“We were running the house on a shoe-string budget. My husband Ashish had lost his job in a wineshop two months before the lockdown. I was the single earning member of the family. The families I work for, usually behave flexibly to support me monetarily whenever required. However, with such short notice, trains shut down and buses too were not available. I had no means to approach any of the households I was employed in as I stay in suburban Kurla and my employers reside in far away Matunga and Dadar areas. Walking the distance in the summer heat was ruled out. Besides, I was not sure of being able to access financial support on demand.”
“Our slum area where everyone’s door is kept open and people could get into a huddle any time was the only social support that came to our family’s rescue. Fortunately, there was a Mumbai Port Trust employee Samuel who used to walk to Sion and take a bus to Sewri area for reporting to duty. He continued to receive his monthly income and was kind enough to lend a portion of it for our sustenance.”
“Our school-going children however had a very rough time. Their exams and schooling schedule were abruptly interrupted with no signs of any let up. A month later, the school management intimate us that for the lower grades (meaning below seventh standard) the school had decided on automatic passing and there was no need for any of them to appear for examinations. Our relief was however, short-lived. The new term that usually starts in June second week in Mumbai did not work out. All students were asked to take their lessons online. However, being a domestic household with a restricted income, our family cannot afford to spend on installing a computer or paying monthly internet charges.”
“It then came down to purchasing android mobile phones for both my kids after taking loan from a nearby household. The kids complain that they find it difficult to understand the online version of their tutorials and the mobiles they use sometimes give a blank screen or still worse run some other unwanted program. They also told me that unlike in a classroom environment where they build up on the knowledge imparted in school every day, they found it difficult to maintain and assimilate information with a sense of continuity.”
“The financial constraints somewhat eased in August and I was able to resume duties in all the households that employed me. However, there is still only one earning member in our household and it’s not an easy task to feed four mouths in addition to expenses incurred on the children’s schooling. I had asked for a hike with a couple of households I am employed in. While one of them agreed, the other pointed out that her husband has been without work since the lockdown began and her family is not comfortable parting with more money.”
Maya’s story is a reflection of the throes domestic servants living in the slum areas of Mumbai like Dharavi or Sion-Koliwada are faced with. They are faced with difficulties on all fronts, namely commute hours, domestic finances and managing children’s schooling in the absence of a proper desktop or laptop to help them access their online tutorials. There are some traditional households that keep a permanent maid servant living in-house. Even they are not totally at ease as a shutdown of economic activity makes the households think about cutting down expenses. Overall, it’s a continued stint of bleak prospects for the domestic- helps in Mumbai.
