"Subhadra"

Debi Mukherjee (India, 08/07/06)

 

In my professional as well as family life I have encountered/dealt with a number  of people belonging to different levels of society .  “Subhadra” is one of them. Day to day dealing with her fills me with such awe for her which can hardly be explained in words. The irony is that she will never be able to know what is written about her as she is not blessed with education.

 

Married at the age of eighteen to a widower having a daughter from his previous marriage, she is now in the age group of thirty plus. Her stepdaughter is 16 years old whereas her two own sons are in the age of 4 to 6 years. She has ensured family planning by undergoing sterilization after the birth of her second child.

 

Her husband is a contractual daily-wage labourer undertaking the job of whitewashing whereas she has been working in 6-7 households as a domestic help undertaking the job of washing utensils, cleaning the house and washing cloths.

 

She is a soft-spoken, punctual, disciplined, true to her words and trustworthy lady. She off and on quotes her mother who taught her not to be covet and follow the path of honesty and integrity.

 

She is always neatly dressed having the zest to live life with all amenities. With her hard-earned money she has built a dwelling place of her own with electricity connection. She maintains a monthly deposit in a nationalised bank. She is also having a water cooler, a colour TV, cooking gas, a mixture-cum grinder.

 

 How does she manage all these? She would request her master/mistress to buy her a gadget like mixi paying the entire cost. She pays back the amount in equal installment by deducting from her monthly wages. She is very particular about the repayment. There are instances when her employer advancing her loan suggests for reduced amount of deduction or waiving off the installment in a particular month due to financial hardship faced by Subhadra to manage her household but she will not yield to it.

 

She is very affectionate and dutiful towards her family and the kids. If any eatable is given to her for her own consumption, she prefers to pack it up for the kids. If one of the kids become unwell, she asks her husband to stay at home to look after him though it amounts to loss of his income. According to her what is the use of money at the cost of suffering of the kids? Kids should be given all comfort and proper education.

 

In case she is unable to come on duty all of a sudden due to some unforeseen circumstances, she will generally make sure to ask her husband to inform her mistress on telephone. She also plans to take long leave of fifteen/twenty days in a year for visiting her family in the village and for that she generally gives notice of one month or more and anxiously waits for the response from her employers.

 

A number of women like Subhadra irrespective of their caste, creed, and socioeconomic background may be possessing the same positive attributes. Due to apathy on the parts of their parents, society and government, they are unable to build up a good career or come up in the limelight and have been suffering generation after generation.