Last week, on Thursday and Friday, a federal judge handed down sentences to the Sabhnanis, the couple in Long Island who were charged with enslaving and torturing their Indonesian maids (Previous SM coverage: 1, 2, 3). 
- Varsha Sabhnani, identified as the person responsible for torturing the maids, received 11 years in prison.
- Her husband, Mahender Sabhnani, was sentenced to 40 months in prison for allowing the crimes to take place and benefitting from them.
<
p>The sensational details of this case caught the attention of the mainstream press, as did the resemblance of Varsha Sabhnani to a certain Disney villain. I can imagine this made other Indian families in Long Island, especially the ones who knew the Sabhnanis, a bit unconfortable.
<
p>What I can’t understand is why their friend, Jotwani, thought that this would be a defense:
“This case is very frightening for Indian families here,” said Bharat Jotwani, a wealthy friend of the Sabhnanis’ who lives nearby. “We are all educated, nice people. We came here to make it…”“There is no way on earth any Indian family in the United States could do what they were accused of,” he said. “The [Indian] people I know here all feel this way. Anybody from India who has come here comes from a very good family…” [Link]
WTF? The Sabhnani’s couldn’t possibly be guilty because … they’re educated and nice people from good families? No Indian could possibly commit a crime? I know Jotwani’s speaking uncle-speak here, but I honestly can’t figure out what this would translate to in ABCD English. They couldn’t be criminals because they’re wealthy? Sometimes you just gotta shake your head and wonder …
Maitri,
‘Worship’ in the context of maids in India is a loaded concept. Naipaul has depicted it much better than I ever can hope to in his short story ‘One out of Many’ included in his booker-prize winner ‘In a Free State’. I believe that other South Asian writers have also touched upon this issue, but I am not able to recall any more specific references right now (I need to check my shelf at home).
Jaisingh, I did not ask you to refrain from putting your thoughts out; only from generalizing. Did I mention that Merimee is extremely, intentionally funny? Your comment # 80, whether you intended to or not, gave me the same LOL moments. So please don’t stop putting your thoughts out there.
In my experience of living in New Delhi/Bombay and Guwahati for 27 years I have seen fair amounts of both ill treatment and treatment of help as family members. Jai Singh, the respect that you imply is that because of supply shortage or change in attitudes?
80 “One of my aunts gave me this piece of advice for a good successful marraige: Get a good maid, love her like family member and hang on to her forever.”
jaisingh, I’m pretty sure your aunt was basically asking you to marry the maid.
Jaisingh presents a datapoint that I don’t doubt is valid, but from what I have seen this seems to be the less common scenario. Good drivers are in short supply in most metros and are beginning to be treated better (their employers put them up in some hotel during travel) but maids/domestics are not. The only exception is in households where they expect someone of the same caste to handle the food. It’s pretty hard for old school Brahmins to find Brahmin cooks (or pujaris) as most are professionals. Ditto for veg Jains and Marwaris. Other than that it is is pretty damn easy unless you are looking for someone with a CV like Mary Poppins that you can pay a pittance. That’s why in Bangalore you have services like eBaba, people complaining that they can’t find help when they in fact can if they weren’t so damn stingy and paid enough to keep the maid and her kids out of the slums. In TN, I can say that less than 20% of the households I see treat their servants with dignity (e.g. use the respectful forms when addressing elder servants, having them eat with you when possible). And a good 20% are physically abusive though not in the spectacularly degenerate way of the Shabnanis. I’m sure I’ll be taken to task about it, but I often get embarrassed going out to eat with desis who think they can bark at people here the way do at the “help” in India
These two got what they deserve. I am sure they will have fun in prison,I don’t care what race or how rich you are you can still be an ass.
“jaisingh, I’m pretty sure your aunt was basically asking you to marry the maid”
Yes! That is why I cried like a baby when I had to leave the maid and accept this maidless life! How I miss her every single day! She definately was the key to my happy marraige…….now we sacrifice and compromise on a daily basis:) Louiecypher, don’t even get me started on the drivers! Good drivers are as rare in India as polar bears in Iceland! Also my maid of 5 years in India was of a different caste than mine and same goes for many of my friends/cousins households. From what I have seen, our generation places more emphasis on the maids cleanliness/habits/skills etc than her caste.
106 · jaisingh said
Maybe you two were just not maid for each other?
I recall a similar incident to the ‘good family’ quote in the article. The President of our India-based company was explaining to me why one of our employees was a good candidate for a promotion. After a few generic points (hard worker, good school etc.) his clinching argument was that he came from a ‘good family’. I remembered that back in desh it is very acceptable to mention your parents’ occupation in resumes.
94 · Malathi said
If I prosper, will you meri mee? 🙂
What do you all have against snakes?
“People have become more exposed and inured to the idea that predation can be committed as easily by the Scout leader accountant who throws an annual block party as by the wino hanging out in an alley near the school, so you hear less of it these days.”
If the operative words here are “as likely”, I doubt this is true. I THINK what the uncleji means with his seemingly astoundingly stupid comment is that such behavior is highly unlikely among people statistically like these good people and please give the good people a chance to explain, please. Not that I buy that personally. While we all need to be reminded that those of all classes/nationalities/races/ethnicities/religions/jobs, blah, blah, blah, commit crimes, it’s just being deliberately obtuse to think there are no statistical predictors, depending on where you are. One crime the smart and powerful do commit hugely is the crime of social manipulation and they know all the tricks because they know all the stats. I’ve seen them in action. Statistically, educated and middle to higher SES, are not “as likely” to commit crimes of violence. Aside from their more comfortable circumstances, the very qualities one needs to get an education–thinking things through, assessing consequences, worrying about the opinions and feelings of others, perhaps some innate brain power, how it would affect your career–these are just less exercised among poorer, less educated people, at least not in a way most of us would understand. Among higher SES groups, expect more crimes like fraud perhaps; political crimes (some of the worst on the planet), embezzlement, general nastiness and snobbery. But not so much crimes perpetrating direct bodily or property harm. Possible but not probable. At the risk of being insensitive to poor people and winos, they do commit more crimes. We all know the media loves to focus on the man bites dog stories.
Right. In this case, violence against servants is more likely to be committed by the rich than the poor.
You might protest that this is because the poor have no servants, but this is the same reason why the poor are more likely to join gangs than the rich. In both cases, it’s a matter of availability.
Talking about families in this case is ironic because actually it was a matter of families, her family smuggled the servants to them, and set up the arrangements. So actually, the family that she came from was relevant to some of the counts they were charged with. Again, crimes like smuggling servants and not paying them are more likely to be committed by rich families than by poor.
Tipu #107,
Are you serious, I have lived and worked in India for a long time and I have never seen a resume with Parents’ profession listed, please think before you type such exaggerations and if you have facts to support please post a resume with the Parents’ profession listed. Height yes, weight yes, passport number yes but never Parents’ profession ïÂÅ
Umber, I worked in Human Resources in India for many years. Yes, giving your parents’ profession is common, as is asking the candidate about it in job interviews. I have seen both. You might want to subscribe to Monster India or Naukri & go through a few resumes.
To add to my previous comments, this was my experience from the mid-1990s to early-2000’s. I have seen information about parents in some wedding cards too.
Tipu,
I think we will have to agree to disagree as I worked for 6 years in India before moving here and I didn’t see any resumes with the parent’s profession listed. Although you may be right about interviews as they are little more personal than interviews here.
Malathi,
‘Worship’ in the context of maids in India is a loaded concept. Naipaul has depicted it much better than I ever can hope to in his short story ‘One out of Many’ included in his booker-prize winner ‘In a Free State’. I believe that other South Asian writers have also touched upon this issue, but I am not able to recall any more specific references right now (I need to check my shelf at home).
Of course, I didn’t mean “worship” to connote reverence of the maid on the part of the employer, I was only using Jaisingh’s terminology. A more accurate description would be that dependable maids are few and far between in India that my relatives, friends and parents (when they are in India) go above and beyond simply paying well; they coddle and offer gifts and lots of food to these women to keep them in their employ. This doesn’t mean they necessarily like these maids, they simply need dependable service and will offer a lot for it.
With a lot of India moving out of or destroying older, larger homes and moving into apartments, condos and the like, and with washers, dryers and other modern appliances available for in the home, is the need for a maid as prevalent as before?
I’d be interested in any other book recommendations you dig up.
Tipu, the resumes you are talking of could be bollywood resumes! For example: Imran Khan: Son of XYZ Khan and Nephew of Aamir Khan or Isha Deoal: daughter of Dharmendra and Hema Malini and half sister of sunny and bobby deol
Maitri, washing machines and dishwashers are becoming quite common, but you still need someone to load them.
Hey all,
I am involved with Andolan, a membership based and led organization of South Asian low wage domestic workers in NYC. I am attaching a “letter to the editor”that we had written the day that the NYT article came out. Needless to say it wasn’t printed. It was more for the purpose getting our views on the article and showing that Samirah and Enung have support.
apsara
To the Editor of The New York Times;
We, the members of Andolan, a NYC-based domestic workers organization, are disappointed with your recent coverage of the upcoming sentencing of Sabhnani’s for their exploitation of domestic workers. (Eric Konisberg “Couple’s Downfall is Culminating in Sentencing in Long Island Slavery Case June 23rd) Mr. Konisberg provides a shockingly lop-sided portrait of the story, giving ample space to a romanticized account of the Sabhnani’s family relationship and their rise to acquire the “American dream.†In contrast, the struggles and voices of Samirah and Enung, the domestic workers employed and abused by the Sabhnani’s, remain largely glossed over.
The article sympathizes with the journey of the Sabhnani’s from new immigrants to wealthy entrepreneurs, the life they left behind in India , the growth of their family business, their purchase of a house in Long Island , and their sentencing to Nassau Correctional facility, despite the crimes they committed and the suffering which occurred at their expense. These caricatures are embellished by generous quotes from the Sabhnani’s daughter Pooja and their family friend Mr. Jothwani.
The lives of Samirah and Enung, in comparison, are justified, in the words of economist Dilip Ratha, as a “common template for the many workers who leave countries like Indonesia , the Philippines and Malaysia for wealthier nations so that they can send their earnings home to their families.†There is little depth to the fact that thousands of Samirahs and Enungs have also struggled to attain the “American dreamâ€, yet are unheard because they are undocumented, have few resources, and are often isolated from any form of community or institutional support.
Given the disparity in resources between middle-class immigrants such as the Sabhani’s and domestic workers such as Samirah and Enung, their escape and survival is the more impressive story. So many domestic workers are silenced, because their employers are also immigrants, and their relationship becomes confused as members of the same family, versus an employer-employee relationship. The article reports no mention of the supporters of Samirah and Enung, including the many local community organizations, such as Andolan – Organizing South Asian Workers, who are advocating on their behalf, or the Housecleaners in Long Island or Domestic Workers United. In fact, all of these workers’ rights organizations have been pushing for legislation requiring minimum wage page and dignity for all workers.
We are concerned that not only were the voices of the two women silenced by the Sabhnani’s, but the article offered no insight into the plight and activism of domestic workers. This is especially alarming considering this article is printed just days before the Sabhnani’s sentencing for their heinous crimes.
Andolan – Organizing South Asian Workers is an organization founded by and for low-wage South Asian immigrant women workers to empower one another and to collectively organize against poor workplace conditions, gender discrimination, and xenophobia. Andolan’s over 100 members are primarily domestic workers – babysitters, housekeepers, and cooks who are often abused due to their isolated work environments coupled with stigma, limited English proficiency, and irregular immigration status. Our ten years of organizing domestic workers in the South Asian community disproves Mr. Jothwani’s testament- “There is no way on earth any Indian family in the United States could do what they were accused of. The [Indian] people I know here all feel this way. Anybody from India who has come here comes from a very good family.†In fact many upwardly-mobile, affluent, members of the Indian American community are complicit in abusing low-wage workers.
We hope that for the sake of journalistic integrity your next story on this case will offer more insight into the experiences of Samirah and Enung, and overall, the lives of domestic workers in New York . We encourage your response and feedback.
Sincerely,
Members of Andolan
Other variations:
If yo see a Punjabi and a Cobra, kill the snake first, leave the Cobra alone.
She looks evil and disturbed. Therefore, I don’t understand why is everyone analyzing some stupid sentences uttered by her in her desperate attempt of defense of her actions. She said something. That’s it. There is absolutely no need to analyze why she said it, and what she was thinking.
Apsara77: Maybe the NYT reads “In fact many upwardly-mobile, affluent, members of the Indian American community are complicit in abusing low-wage workers.” and sees a group that’s peddling hate instead of advocating the cause of low wage workers.
NYT generally avoids libelling an entire community. Is it Andolan’s intent to pull a stunt to appear beleaguered or to effect change? Way to go and alienate people who would otherwise be sympathetic (e.g. me)
The Sabhnani’s are trolls, plain and simple. Just because they are rich does not give them a right to abuse. Once Mrs. Sabhnani goes to prison she’ll regret her actions when someone whacks her upside her head and stick a shank in her ear. People need to do house work by themselves. Our lives aren’t that busy that we can’t clean, cook, mow the lawn and do laundry. For God’s sake its not rocket science. Life isn’t just about going to parties and showing off your wealth all the time.
I’m in Indonesia now and I gotta say I was surprised that this case received almost no media attention. I asked quite a few of my friends and none of them seemed to be aware. Sadly, I think the abuse of Indonesian maids in places like Kedah, Malaysia and the Gulf that it’s become common news out here (not that people here don’t care-it’s definitely part of the reason Indonesians refer to their northern neighbor as “Malaysial”-I guess the closest translation would be something like damn Malaysia although sial could have a couple of meanings colloquially)
I knew Jotwani’s daughter when I was an undergrad-apparently, he’s the main guy who puts on those mega Bollywood shows in the tri-state area. Random note aside, I’d imagine he was worried of some sorta backlash against the Indian community or have them painted in a certain light. Doesn’t make his comments right, but I think I get what he meant.
“If you are in the jungle and see a poisonous snake and an Indian, kill the Indian first” Malaysian and Indonesian saying.
Haha, I’m sitting here with an Indonesian friend and laughing at this-don’t confuse Indonesia and Malaysia buddy…people here don’t like that.
121 · louiecypher said
I really don’t see how Andolan’s statement counts as libelous. All they are saying is that, based on their experience, there is a non-negligible number of wealthy Indian Americans who abuse low wage workers. They are not saying that most Indian Americans do this, or that Indian Americans are more likely than other groups to do this.
At best (and I am stretching here), you can call the statement tone-deaf in that readers of the NYT might read “many affluent Indian Americans are complicit” as “affluent Indian Americans are likely to be complicit”. Would prefacing this sentence with an obligatory bromide such as “while there are many stellar upstanding Indian American uncles who rhapsodize fondly about their maids, some even in Pune, and who are needed even in the face of the cruel rampant mechanization of washing machines that pervades laundries all over the world today…” have made you more sympathetic? Or should they have written their letter to a magazine of the broad circulation of India Globe, where these kinds of statements could be interpreted with the appropriate sympathy by people of the ilk of Jotwani?
Justice has been served in America. In India this kind of maid abuse and slavery is par for the course.
jaisingh wrote:
“a good maid in india is worshipped like a goddess.”
“my maid of 5 years in India was of a different caste than mine and same goes for many of my friends/cousins households”
“washing machines and dishwashers are becoming quite common, but you still need someone to load them.”
“when I go back to India on my annual visits and see my cousins who have 3-4 different maids in their house, I am pleasantly surprised! My cousin speaks to her maid more lovingly than she would speak to her hubby. The maid goes on vacations without telling my cousin, and there is no way my cousin can shout at her when she comes back……infact my sis made her a cup of tea and listened to her vacation stories! My friends maid’s kids all get to go to good schools, camps all courtesy of my friend. “
Yeah right jai, India is a veritable paradise for maidservants……
It is such a hardship to load washers and dryers eh? I would laugh if I didn’t know how cruelly maids are treated in India
I hope the Sabhnanis are assigned toilet duty: I see it is all about you as it generally tends to be with professional activists. I said sympathetic to Andolan’s cause which is clearly not the same as the abused maid’s cause or otherwise they would have worded the letter in a way that got the point across without impugning an entire race. Read my other comments before you jump to the conclusion that I am trying to sweep something under the carpet.
Who says Varsha Sabhnani is ugly? Only jealous americans, but in India her fair skin and sharp “aryan” features make her the ideal auntie’s choice in the wedding market.
re: parents on resumes…I am an American raised desi and I have been asked what my parents do for a living upon meeting me. the people asking were American born and raised desis as well. obviously trying to place me in a category…disheartening in this country of all places. I have also found that desis in the u.s. hang out with similar castes. where is the progress? family background obviously still counts even in America.
82 · Ennis said
I think the propensity to illtreat maid servants/nannies/home keepers etc. directly stems from the culture in desh-land to have such people in their home permanently or employed instead of doing the work themselves. Even royal housewifes who enjoy the luxury of not going out to work seem to have servants in their home. I can understand if you very old or ill but what abt normal healthy people ? Morever this culture is present even in middle-class homes in India leave alone the rich/upper-middle class homes. Also in the same context there was this mistreatment of domestic workers in diplomatic enclaves in D.C. I think some of individualism injected to the Indian families will do a lot good for many of its ills.
83 · jaisingh said
I don’t agree that maids are a necessity in Indian middle-class/upper-middle class homes if the husbands, father-in-laws, royal housewifes share the burden of the work in homes which are not as gigantic here in American suburbs.
131 · Bridget Jones said
People who talk about not needing maid etc in India absolutely miss the point how important it is as an employment especially for the women who opts for it. It empowers them not to depend on their drunk and abusive husbands. Are people for america going to pay for their unemployment when this kind of service is abolished ? Also, living in India and US, I can vouch for that household works are much more streamlined with partially processed foods (e.g. readily available coconut milk, canned and cooked beans etc), running water, thousands of machinery (which uses energy by the way) makes household work in US a breeze in US compared to India.
88 · Janeofalltrades said
Clearly no one seems to care about this point in this forum. You have nailed the alternate desi mentality here : wealth = bad people
I think Jotwani Uncle is scared. Scared of being tainted by association through background and ethnicity with the criminals.
This may be over-defensiveness and paranoia. In fact I think it is.
But it may also be his inability to articulate himself properly. Would you deny understanding even just a tiny amount where that fear comes from? The truth is, it is sometimes the case that minority groups are held collectively guilty for crimes of individuals by wider society. Just to use very raw examples, all the brown skinned folk who received racist abuse in the aftermath of 9/11.
Jotwani Uncle is just incapable of dealing with the implied guilt he fears will arise from this, as much as his own failings as a man to process what has happened.
It’s not nice to face prejudice and stereotyping and hostility for things you are innocent of. The flip side of basking in the glow of good, righteous achievment, is the implication that the darkness in the crimes of individuals of those nominally of your social group also reflects back on you as an individual. This is a strange and complex logic fraught with complexity, fear, low self-esteem, but also with a genuine prejudice as a back drop.
So even though I dislike what he said, there’s a part of me that understands how it was that he could come to say it.
132 · zuni said
The govt. or the indian families which started the so called job of “servants” didn’t start it in the first place coz of some humanitarian purpose. So trying to make an argument that it provides employment is actually like makeing an excuse in hindsight. That particular labour has arisen only coz indian families don’t want to do menial work themselves. Now if you are extremely rich, busy and jet set and advertise for housekeeper since you cannot manage the home then it is understable. The concept of urban indian middle class/upper middle class needing servants to maintain their homes is something I cannot understand.
135 · Bridget Jones said
There has been no Indian government scheme to ever start job of ‘servants’. Such jobs existed in Europe as well and also exist in US in house of affluent people in the west (not just south asians); in fact there had been government sanctioned slaves in the past in the west if you have forgotten.
One has to keep the population of India in mind while saying high-funda stuff that such jobs are not required. What sort of jobs will one provide to a huge illiterate population ? Why are such large migration happening to the cities from the villages ? What do these women from the villages do in the cities-yes, a lot of them work as maids. Yes, it is definitely true that it would have been better to have alternative employment for these huge masses of people, but that is asking way too much from the government. But these people are getting better pay than before. Also, a lot of maids/servants belong to unions (in bengal I know) and wields a lot of power (which is a good thing in my opinion). I know a case where the woman of the house shouted at the maid or something; the maid not only left the job, but the woman had to confront protest from union members next day and of course couldn’t manage to find any one to work as maid in her house. That’s a great way to handle bad behavior from employers in India in my mind.
Also, I do not understand the argument that “royal housewives who enjoy the luxury of not going out to work seem to have servants in their home”. Royal homes usually serves at least food for 30 people (more like 100 actually ) for every meal. It doesn’t make sense that one woman will cook and clean for so many people without help. Also, the ‘servants’ of these homes get payment akin to middle class salary. BTW, I am wondering if you are waiting for the Queen Elzabeth to cook and clean soon or not 😉
I certainly didn’t mean to make that association. And it’s not clear how wealthy they will be once the back wages are paid. In this case, their wealth came in part from stealing the labor of others. That’s why her husband was sentenced, because he had benefited from criminal activity.
137 · Ennis said
Ennis, I didn’t mean that specifically about your post. I am talking about unwillingness to acknowledge this alternate mentality among desis. While you point out one sort of mentality, the other one also exists.
zuni wrote:
You, jaisingh and a few others are trying to paint a rosy picture out of something that is shameful and indefensible. It is the the culture of virtual slavery and physical and sexual abuse of maids in desi culture that is the issue:
http://www.zeenews.com/articles.asp?aid=336732&sid=NAT&ssid=
“At the tender age of 13, Shika Bera is already aware that her childhood has been stripped from her forever.
The pig-tailed, pale-faced little girl holds no hope of playing with other children or even of going to school, resigned to spending her life scrubbing floors and washing dishes as a maid for affluent middle-class families.
Since she was eight years old, Shika has worked as a maid in several homes across Kolkata where she has not only been subjected to back-breaking housework, but also to sexual abuse at the hands of her employers.
“My father took me from our home in the village. He told me I must work here in the city because we need money,” said Shika, her small fingers nervously tugging at the sleeves of her tunic.
“In one house where I worked, the man forced me to look at dirty films. He touched me in places I didn’t like and made me touch him,” she said.
Shika is one of millions of children in India given up by their families into virtual slavery as domestic workers.
Hidden within the confines of the four walls of urban homes across the country, these child workers are exploited by employers and made to do strenuous labour for little or no pay.”
“Most are subjected to various forms of abuse, from unsafe working conditions and lack of food to being beaten, burnt or sexually abused,” said Ray, who recently conducted a study on child workers in West Bengal.
The state is a notorious transit hub for child maids as it borders three of India’s most backward states — Bihar, Jharkhand and Orissa — and also shares porous, poorly guarded frontiers with impoverished neighbours Nepal and Bangladesh.
“West Bengal remains a key transit point (for child labour). We have formed special teams who are coordinating with the border guards to plug holes along the border with Nepal and Bangladesh,” said Raj Kanojia, the state’s police inspector-general.
Traffickers and parents take advantage of the porous border to bring thousands of children — mostly young girls from poor rural families — into West Bengal every year before sending them to urban middle-class households across the country.
In the posh, leafy suburbs of the capital New Delhi — where one million of the city’s 14 million population are child workers — young girls can be seen carrying heavy shopping bags, sweeping courtyards or hanging out clothes on balconies.
The children, many of whom are breadwinners for their families, are forced to work up to 15 hours a day to earn less than 500 rupees ($10) per month which is sent home.
Some employers pay nothing, believing that providing leftover food, old clothes and a space on the floor for the child to sleep is more than enough, say activists. “
” The biggest problem is combating a tradition where employing children who are poor or of lower castes is considered quite normal,” said Kailash Satyarthi, a children’s activist.
But 14-year-old Namita Das, a servant for a family of six in Kolkata, holds little hope her life will ever change.
“There are children the same age as me who live in the house where I work. I see them playing, going to school, having nice toys,” said the pretty, dimpled girl.
“I want my life to be like that, but I don’t think it will ever happen.”
139 · Valmiki said
Valmiki, I was not talking about child labor and definitely do not support child labor in any way, so don’t confuse things. It is definitely a bad bad practice wherever kids are employed. I even pay for some less fortunate girl’s education so that she is not pushed by her parents to be a maid etc. I was talking about adult married women who move to cities with husbands not having much options about employment, so please don’t distort/confuse what I am talking about.
zuni@136, your arguments don’t address in any way why the indian middle class needs servants to manage their homes if the husbands, father-in-laws and “royal” housewives share the burden. By royal I didn’t meant royal as in some maharajah family literally but housewives who don’t go to work but yet need servants… and to clarify unless you are are in rural areas, I don’t think there is any concept of joint families in urban India with 30 people or more. Just because there is demand for menial work doesn’t mean you have to remain steeped in the mindset of having maid-servants/house keepers unless there is some real genuine need.
141 · Bridget Jones said
There are still lot of joint families even in cities with 30 people or more. Anyway, I have been arguing from the employment point of view of the maids (I am talking about adults and not children employed). I really wish there was alternate employment for them, but I wonder what that can be honestly. In that respect I do not think that having a maid hurts (unless the employer is abusive) as an emplyement. But I do think this employment should be abolished at the end, for which India needs more drives for education
zuni@142, even the system of maids doesn’t involve abuse, unless there is some real genuine need (which probably includes cases of large joint families) I don’t see why husbands, fully fit father-in-laws/mother-in-laws and “royal” housewifes cannot do the work in urban middle class homes. My point was about the mindset of having servants and I am in now way going to be dragged into the a debate about employment.
The answer is obvious: physical labor is demeaned in indian culture as something only low castes are supposed to do.
144 · Valmiki said
Males in Indian household in general do not tend to help in household activities, whatever caste they belong to. It is a matter of sexism rather than casteism. My general observation is that it is better (i.e. males are more proactive in household) in the South and East of India rather than in the North. My theory is it’s because women have a better standing in the family in these regions (e.g. Kerala had matrilinieal society at some point). Anyway, I realize that I digress too much, so I bow out of this discussion.
” I don’t see why husbands, fully fit father-in-laws/mother-in-laws and “royal” housewifes cannot do the work in urban middle class homes. My point was about the mindset of having servants and I am in now way going to be dragged into the a debate about employment.”
You should go down to Texas and ask all the fat suburbanites why they need Mexicans to clean their houses and mow their lawns when they could do it themselves…
Actually, wait, let me save you the time. You’ll get the following answers: No time, Can’t do as good a job…at least that’s the reason I send my laundry out instead of doing it myself. Oh wait, its because my particular caste strictures forbid the touch of detergent whereas all non-desis who get their laundry done are doing it for convenience.
Having servants is prevalent the world over for people who can afford to do it, you’ll see it in the middle east, eastern europe, africa, latin america etc. Trying to paint it as this spoiled regressive Desi habit is complete BS.
I think the womens face in the pic says it all, she remind me of the vamp from the movie 101 Dalmations!
147 · Prashant on July 5, 2008
The defense argument is she lost a lot of weight,100 or so pounds, so the weird behavior with maids. May be that explains the wrinkles too.
148 · Xyzz said
anti-oprah propoganda
Agreed. But I think it’s a combo of both sexism and casteism.