We do make a difference.....

Offlate, I have been watching a serial called "Kashi" on NDTV Imagine.Dunno if anyone of you guys see it. Its a really nice story on caste discrimination with a kid as the main protagonist. The story shows how the so called upper class ill-treated the lower class, with the main focus on how Kashi goes on to study in school, a first for a child from her part of the society.

I was watching it and ofcourse, cursing the upper class aloud (I mean, what else do you watch a serial for, if not to take out your day's frustration, lol). I also concluded that people in the olden times were simply horrible and shuddered to think of how life would have been then. As the next soap began and I was mulling over what I saw in Kashi, my maid came with her grandchild, who is all of 2 plus years old.

Not knowing the ways of the world at this tender age, she innocently came in and sat down right next to my Mil, who was obviously very offended, but didnt know how to tell the maid to teach her grandchild the difference between "us" and "them".. Soon, the kid got up and played with all of baby's toys and generally behaved as though it were her house.
Both Mil and I were not happy with this turn of events and we proceeded to talk about it at length, about how these people dont teach their children any manners anymore , how the kid may not even have had a bath (although, she actually looked neater than D looked on Sundays)

The maid must have overheard our conversation, for the next day, the kid was duly asked to sit on the floor and not touch anything in the house. We were relieved;things were back in place.

Although, this incident makes me uncomfortably aware that nothing seems to have changed,just that we have become more subtle in our way of showing the "difference", I am honest in saying that I still dont feel comfortable "socialising" with the maid and her kid as though there were no difference between us and them.

I do feel really guilty and know its probably wrong, but its the truth......how do you feel?

Comments

  1. Oh god,if it had been my aunt,she wud not let the maid inside the house,i guess those days they r not allowed inside,my father and my sister can socialize very well with maid,ironing person etc., am still on the subtle side of expressing the difference.

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  2. Since I live in US, I do not have a maid and never had to deal with this. But I did grow up around maids and their children and my family was very clear - you treat them with respect. First thing - cleanliness. I remember numerous kids whom my grandparents made sure had a hot water bath with soap and shampoo and wore something decent which was usually something from one of us. Then they did play with our toys (if they were clean the bath was usually skipped) and after they left the toys were usually washed and cleaned (cleaning toys was an everyday routine). But we generally played outdoors and got dirty again. I do not remember where they sat but I think they usually sat on the floor. Please do not feel guilty and maybe you can get the child a book or pay for something educational to make yourself feel better coz that is something that will make me feel better

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