I come home from an hour long trip from Gurgaon via metro. (By the way, I am a giant in this city. I stood an entire head over every woman in the women's compartment today). I pass by Aunty and say "Hi Aunty" and she copies me by saying "Hi Aunty" back to me. We do this daily. I'm so done with the day that I can't say anything else. I sit on my bed, out of it, frozen for a moment. It's been a REALLY long day. Aunty comes in with a glass of water and says in Hindi: "Have you had water, beta?" This is not part of our daily routine. I took it and drank it and smiled. I told her I was feeling a little sick yesterday and now she is in full Mommy-mode.
10 min later, she comes in with a sizzling hot cup of masala chai and some story about bringing my roommate's blanket inside after hanging it outside and now this is a problem because it smells like smoggy Delhi air. (Common Delhi practice by the way, is to air out your winter clothes when you take them out of the almirah for the first time in the season.) Then she told me a really long story about how she was able to get over a cold by just drinking juice, no medicine. I apparently should follow suit. Aunty is especially chatty today.
I got upset with her this morning and I think this might be her way of making peace. I'm not one to ever get mad at the servants but today Aunty and the maids were running around in my room and not letting me sleep until it was time for me to get up. Then once I was up, their back and forth was not allowing me to shut my door and get ready... I don't even know what it was that they were doing. So, I got kind of tense and said "Aap logh mere kamre mein kaam kyu karte ho? Why are you doing work in my room? Can't you do it in someone else's?" At the moment I am the only Hindi-speaker(not even)/Indian in our house and I think the maids find comfort in being around me. The three Europeans I live with are very awkward around them and do a horrible job of hiding it. Anyways, then one of the maids, who apparently now calls me Didi (big sister), tried to explain that she will make things better by shutting the door while she is washing clothes in the bathroom. I felt really bad for saying anything at all.
I think we're ok now. Aunty just pulled out a piece of paper from her sari blouse and asked me to call her ride home. He's coming in 5 min. Now she's sitting next to me on the bed and telling me I don't eat enough, that she's the only servant that Neha has kept all these years, that it is no longer safe for her to walk home, and that she loves her job. She has five boys and this is her only job -- to take care of four grown people. Imagine.
It's a strange thing sometimes, to have servants...
Anyways, it's 7pm and call for prayer is coming through my window. At the same time you can hear Aarti happening below my building. Pick your religion.
And, it's finally Friday. I'm going to take a nap and see where the night takes me. Delhi is crazy.
*Aunty is our hired cook
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