Is This Your Daughter, James?

If not, who is she?

- Clifford Martis

James and Raghunath were good friends. James had invited Raghu to his place many times but somehow Raghu could not make it. Of course, Raghu was keen to visit James’s place because he had heard so much about the way James and his family lived. Particularly James used to speak about his smart daughter Benita and also about their helper Shanthi who was such a great help to them. At last the day dawned when Raghu made up his mind to visit James’s place and give him a surprise Raghu went to his friend’s house and rang the door bell. A smart looking girl opened the door and said, “Good mooring, uncle. Please come in.” The young lady was neatly dressed and had a fairly decent look. Raghu thought that she was James’s daughter and asked James, “Hi James, is this your daughter Benita?” “No, Raghu, she is Shanthi, our maid. She is just like our daughter.” James told Raghu about Shanthi’s smartness and helpfulness and also about the way they treated her like a member of their family. Raghu felt very happy to see such a sweet relationship between master and servant.

How do we treat our people who work for us? Our maids, drivers and other helpers? In the organised sector we have designations like manager, assistant, housekeeper and so on. Whether we like it or not the workers are treated with a reasonable amount of dignity and there are trade unions that are ever vigilant to ensure that the dignity of their members is preserved. In private organisations, there are many differences in the way employers treat their workers.