Interview of Maid

               Usha Pawar comes to my house for house help. I call her ‘Usha Tai’. She stays next to my building. She has been working in our house since a year and a half. I asked her a few questions to know her and her life better.

 

Q. What work do you do?

A. I go to people’s houses for house help. I wash clothes, utensils, sweep the floor and clean the furniture.

Q. Since how long have you been working?

A. I have been working since 20 years.

Q. Where do you go to work?

A. I work from Dadar to Mahim, close from my house as that is convenient.

Q. What activities do you perform throughout the day?

A. I wake up by 9am, get ready and perform daily household chores. I wash my clothes and make food for the house. After this, I go out for work at 1pm and my work goes on till about 8 or 8.30 at night. Then I come back home, have dinner and finish off with the work at home. Then again by 9.30pm I go to two places for washing utensils and come back home after an hour. At home I spend some time with my family, watch television and go to bed by 1am.

Q. What about your lunch then?

A. I have lunch and then leave for work at 1pm. Other than that, I also eat a little at the places where I go to work. At times, I go home around 4pm to have tea.

Q. What made you get into this profession? Did you get into it on your own will or due to family pressure?

A. I got into this profession on my own will, nobody pressurized me. Our financial conditions made me work. We didn’t have enough money. We needed money for my younger sibling’s school fees, books and our clothes. Initially, I used to tailor clothes, but then I left it and got in to house help. I sold off my tailoring machine for two reasons. One is because there was no place in our house to keep the machine. Secondly because the customers that would come to me would generally be from my area and friends. Thus, they would come to me and say that they would pay me later and then forget. I would not like to go and ask them for money. In this way I didn’t get my payments too. Thus, now I am into house help.

Q. Tell me something about your family background.

A. I was a year old when my father passed away due to drinking and consuming alcohol. I have three sisters and two brothers. My mother and my elder sister brought me up. My eldest brother was the only earning member from our family at that time. After his death, my other siblings and I started working. My mother passed away before 15 years due to poor health.

Q. With whom do you stay now?

A. I am 40 years old, but I am unmarried. Thus, I stay with my elder brother in a joint family.

Q. Why didn’t you get married?

A. When I was young, none of the boys liked me. Also, I was just 10^th passed. Thus, due to lower education qualification, the other boys wouldn’t choose me. I got a few proposals from certain boys who were also educationally less qualified. But, I didn’t accept as they were addicted to drinking and smoking. In this way, I got older and stayed unmarried.

Q. What problems do you face at home and at work?

A. There are no problems as such at home. We are a happy family and we are there for each other in good and bad times. At work, I am often scolded as I work slowly due to watching television and working and go to other houses also late. I also believe that I don’t have any tension as I am single.

Q. How long will you work?

A. I will work till the time I am healthy.

Q. How much do you earn?

A. I earn around ₹ 10,000 per month.

Q. What do you do with the money you earn?

A. I give half of my salary at home and the other half I deposit in the bank. I also like to travel. Thus, with this money, I go to my village every year in May and after every two or three years I go for a short trip from my savings.

Q. Where is your village? Do you prefer to stay there or in Mumbai?

A. My village is in Dapoli. It takes seven to eight hours to reach there by bus. My Kaka and Mama stay there. We too have a house there. We open it only when we go there in the month of May. I prefer to stay in Mumbai than Dapoli. I am born and brought up in Mumbai. Also in the village there are water and electricity problems which we don’t face here. Earlier, we used to stay in a jhopad patti. We had very little land and were around ten people in the house. At night, the ladies would sleep inside the house and the men used to sleep outside in the open space outside our land. Bathrooms and water taps were also outside and not in the house. But now we twelve members stay in a hall kitchen apartment. Its peace now as water and bathrooms are now in the house itself.

Q. If you want money for your personal needs, does your brother give it to you?

A. Yes, my brother gives me money whenever I ask for it. There is peace and understanding within our family.

 

 

              After this interview I came to know more about Usha Tai’s life, family and background. Now it helps me think and understand that we shouldn’t judge anyone before knowing about them. Also, this teaches me that in journalism, there is no space for assumption. We have to be clear and sure about what we say. Thus, communication in this way makes it easier for us to get a clear story.