meetdheeraj

The perennial excuse of our maid after taking an unannounced holiday which has become ever so often now is that she did come in the morning and rang our doorbell but we did not open the door for her. For long both of us who stay in the house have believed this excuse. Not because she did and we did not. Simply because we thought of letting it pass, giving her the benefit of doubt. There have been days like today when my friend was up since 5 AM due to some exam of his and know for sure that there was no doorbell ringing, but over the months he too has learnt the art of letting it go. “Aunty plays with us” is our constant topic of conversation. And in this game of her, she has been winning all this while. She didn't come today morning too. And naturally, we had our usual “Arey yaar, ye aunty aaj bhi nahi aayi (Oh man, this maid didn't even come today)” conversation and went out to have breakfast. On our way back in the dark parking lot where you have to walk fifty meters to get to the lift someone hurriedly walked behind a pillar we were just about to pass. But we caught the lady and asked, where has she been. “I came a little early today and rang the bell..” My friend had perhaps long prepared for this moment so he jumped and asked, “What time did you ring the bell? I'm up since 5 am today…” After a long chat of I-did-but-you-did-not, she agreed to show up at our house after some minutes. We said alright and walked to the lift. What do you think we would be talking about now? Of course, about her. My friend has had some long conversations with her. He wakes up earlier than myself and while I'm still under my warm sheets, he and she would keep themselves busy in their long conversations. So on our way back to the room while talking about how clever and cunning aunty is, he asked me if I knew that aunty has completed MA (Masters in Arts). I, of course, didn't know. My mind at this moment had blanked out. I went back to my own conversations with her. Traced how I had asked her about her family. Her husband works as security personnel in an IT company. She has two kids. One goes to school and another is little so stays home. In the morning when she goes out for housework (at multiples houses), it is her husband who looks after the little one and also readies another one for school. He goes to work in the latter half and that's the reason why she does not go to any housework in the second half so as to be home to take care of her kid.

Some weeks back I had bought a few toys to give to my little cousins when I went home. They were all lying on the coffee table when aunty asked if she can take one saying that her little kid will love playing with it. Hesitant at first as I had bought a precise number to give one each to my cousins, I finally told her to take one. I still remember her smile and happiness while picking one toy car from the table. Then there were other small stories which are typical of all families living in poverty, earning enough to meet daily needs and survive somehow. But never has she told me that she had a masters degree. I was now curious to learn about her studies, and precisely why she choose housework. I'm not demeaning housework as such but what was her story? What happened after she finished her masters?

She would not come even after thirty minutes. My friend would ask me to call her which I would do repeatedly and hear her say that she'll be there soon and cut the call immediately. In the meantime, my friend who had an exam today would leave for the same. And after a few minutes of his leaving she would arrive.

Ting tong…

I would open the door and ask her where had she been. To which she would mumble something while walking straight to the kitchen sink. Sitting comfortably on the sofa some distance away I would ask her how much has she studied and she would reply BA (Bachelor of Arts). Apparently, she wanted to study Masters. It was her long desire but somehow due to some family issues she could not. I did not press on to ask her what issues and all. But instead asked her if she had not looked for other jobs after her BA to which she said she did. In fact, in my own society which houses a well-known school, she taught little kids for three years. Before that, at her home town, she had taught in nursery schools. I then asked her the obvious question - Why leave that and start doing this?

“It didn't pay well. I do housework now at few houses since early morning and it pays me more than double of what I earned as a teacher there.

I didn't know what to say. What do you say after that anyway?

After a bout of silence, I asked her about her kids. What classes they were in. I knew the answer from the old conversation but I asked anyway. I knew she would sport a proud face to tell me how her elder kid goes to a good school which of course, takes a good amount as donation and fees. Her income as a housemaid and her husband's income as security personnel goes into their child's education. By the way, even her husband is a BA graduate. He too tried to get a job with his degree but could not. She told me most in her family are educated. Her brother-in-law is graduate too. He has a clothes shop in her home town which is 430 plus kilometres from where she is currently. They have a little patch of agricultural land there. She says she came here for better opportunities and to give her children better schooling. All of which costs. I then told her about Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNVs, as they are popularly called, are central government schools located in every district of India and provide free education from class sixth to class twelve especially for rural children). She was already aware of it and was planning to put her children into the same school. Also, a relative of hers (I forgot which) had gone to JNV as well.

I wish and pray her kids to pass the JNV entrance test and get a good education there and also that until they do, people who have no idea what poverty really means not find about JNVs like the JNU, the university that has been a dream for many poor students to pursue higher education but is facing the ire now. Education should be free of cost. No one should be deprived of quality education because of the house they were born in. After all, it is the nation that suffers if its citizens are not educated and India has (and will have) the largest youth population. And this population will be our strength only if they receive proper education and aid otherwise this very population will be our burden. So it is in the nation's core interest to invest in the education of its population. Will the nation invest though?

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