Maid in India: Stories of Inequality and Opportunity Inside Our Homes

Name : Maid in India: Stories of Inequality and Opportunity Inside Our Homes

Author : TRIPTI LAHIRI

Book Format : Hardcover

Genre : Higher Education Textbooks

ISBN : 9789384067335

Language : English

Pages : 301-400 Pages

Publish Year : 2017

Publisher : Aleph Book Company

Sub Genre : Education & Training

We eat first, they later, often out of food portioned out for them; we live in the front, they in the back; we sit on chairs and they on the floor; we drink from glasses and ceramic plates and they from ones made of steel set aside for them; we call them by their names and they address us by titles : sir/ma’am, sahib/memsahib..Every year, thousands of poor, illiterate, unskilled women flock to Delhi from villages across the country to work as domestic help. This is how Fullin from Athgama in rural Jharkhand, Lovely from a tiny settlement in Malda, Golbanu bibi from Doparia, Mae from Kokrajhar and a Santhali girl from Annabiri, in the heart of Maoist country—find themselves in the nation’s most powerful city, working for its richest people. This is how tycoons and refugees, politicians and orphans—India’s one per cent and her 99 per cent—rub shoulders every day, under the same roof.In the not so distant past, everyone’s place— whether maid, ayah or cook, sahib or memsahib— was well understood. There were clear rules for negotiating (and maintaining) the vast chasm between the two sides. Today, it’s a little different. There are housekeepers who are part of the middle class who ensure their children join white-collar India. There are teenage girls brought to the city by ‘aunts’ and ‘uncles’ to serve as ‘24-hour’ help, who find themselves virtually and sometimes literally, caged. T

Country of Origin : India