From 'kothmir' to coriander: Modern maid for the urban working class

“Kothmir khatam ho gaya hai,” said our maid. ‘Kothmir? What is the hell is that?’ thought my mother.  We were new in the city and my mother clueless about what was she suppose to buy from the market.

This was almost 12 years ago. As the years progressed, my mother learned the local language as it was necessary to converse with the maid whereas the maid started learning Hindi.

Both did so to have a better understanding and to finish work without any problems or misunderstandings.

But what about the people who aren’t good at learning new languages?

Language indeed is a major barrier among people. Mumbai is a metropolitan city and caters to people from different parts of the country and the world.

One wouldn’t mind an English-speaking, well-mannered maid. The urban youth, who has a cash-inflow and  ‘class’, wouldn’t mind spending a little more if their maid can cook using their microwave or can entertain guests while they are out for work.
“I’m at work when my maid comes to my house to do her chores. Sometimes, it’s difficult to communicate with her over phone in English as she doesn’t understand it. Therefore, I wouldn’t mind an English-speaking maid as there are a few English words which even I don’t know the meaning of in Hindi,” says Riyanka Arora, a 25-year-old homemaker.

The Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University, which has decided to start a course in conversational English for housemaids is great. But like a coin has two sides, this too has it flaws.

Many believe that if house maids start talking in English and know other etiquettes, they would throw more tantrums. In the city which has a shortage of maids and where they are treated better than others, things could turn tables in maids’ favour leaving employers’ begging them for service.

“I wouldn’t want my maid to learn English because then I can converse freely with family or others without her hearing and understanding the conversation. Also, I think they might act smart and increase their prices if they started talking fluently in English,” says Vishal Gupta, a 29-year-old manager.

For many, it doesn’t matter what language their maid speaks in as long as she does her work properly and without  tantrums.