MA'ID.

The maid was going on a leave to her native town. We were all sad but the saddest person in our family was Prithvy. He had taken a particular affinity to Lata, our new maid who was his care taker and followed him like a shadow. We were not sure whether she would return back. This was the problem with maids in Mumbai, a trip to native town meant a permanent good bye. We would have to search a new maid and Prithvy would take time to adjust. Mansi was the most worried, as her trips to her dental clinic would become more sporadic. A shut down clinic for the last 6 months, during maternity was constantly on her mind. I was also concerned. After a week of failed efforts, A bell rang one fine morning. Lata had come back. We were overjoyed. Prithvy broke into a welcome dance waving his arms wildly. We, in our urban life are so dependent on maids. The domestic maid, cook and the care taker maid rule and dictate our lives. They are all well treated by us. All their mistakes are instantly pardonable. They enjoy immunity as our home ministers, wives revere and respect them out of fear. Our domestic maid routinely flicks small denomination notes and yet we turn a blind eye. Such is our dependency! Lata is atypical and a honest maid who really takes care of my son and daughter well. When she feeds Prithvy a bowl of cereal, she will push us all out of the room as we distract him. She puts on a music channel on TV and my son finishes the meal without any fuss. She rocks him gently in the cradle using her latest bollywood song filled cell phone as a lullaby. We are amazed at her ingenuity. She takes him out on a stroller in our garden twice a day. She also prompts him to speak easy words. Also when he is unwell, she gets really worried and skips her meals. In all, Mansi is able to concentrate on her clinic. We too keep her happy and treat her as one of our own kith and kin. During Prithvy's birthday party, she missed out on all the fun as she was attending him who was blissfully asleep oblivious to the surrounding din. How noble of her! I feel really proud of her. As the cake was being cut, I could sense Prithvy scanning the big crowd for her Lata. We immediately told the compere to announce her name and called her on the stage for the cake cutting ceremony. As she climbed the stage, Tears welled up in her eyes. She felt over whelmed by our kind gesture. We recognised her role in our son's upbringing. We returned home pretty late that night, Lata was putting Prithvy to sleep in his cradle with a bollywood song blaring from her cell phone. Prithvy slept, smiling. There is a 'ma' in every 'maid'.