I think poor and low middle class hate the middle class, the upper middle class and the rich.While they have reasons to hate them they do so only for money and good homes and things. I have never heard the domestic maids, or grunge workers or blue collar workers hating the rich and middle class for education ,culture[ saleeka], pramanik and suljah hua nature.Infact , i have come to to the conclusion that they don't care for it nor aspir for it. Earlier the blue collar workers may not have had money for mobiles but they have always eaten well [though may be with less oil and ghee] they usually had values, good work ethic and were mostly loyal and appreciative and aspired for better education.
Just yesterday i heard about domestic maid locked in while her employers were on vacation and she was thirteen. While the employers are to blame to keep her like that, the first thing that came to my mind was why did the 13 yr old's parents also not held responsible. Weren't they equally responsible ? Instead of school,why was she working ? People are quick to blame the well to do people for all this but the fact is there are always 2 sides of every coin.I have never seen maids daughters or sons interested in studies or even their parent's interested in sending them to school. They want quick money and the one maid we had produced more children for a boy whom she didn't even educate.
Out of all maids we had, all of them complained about their husbands' drinking. So they have money to drink and when employers don't feed them they raise hue and cry ! Why ? Why not fight your battles and start at from your home? I have worked for people and nobody has fed me free of cost as yet ! Yet, i have seen numerous households where they are fed everyday and then there is tea free of cost especially those who work full time.There is television to watch and then to sleep in the afternoons. Actually, i have a sneaking suspicion that maids make up this story of drinking no good husband to garner sympathy and off days with pay ! Of course, i don't empathize or encourage sob stories now.
During festivals they arm twist the employers to give not only new clothes and sweets but also bonus !Most people give happily and some grudgingly ! The last maid i had saw my mom bed ridden semi comatose, and all us in pain and worried yet she pestered me to give her money for Diwali and i was so angry that i refused her more for lack of sensitivity than anything else.She disappeared on diwali taking a chutti and the next day she told me unknowingly [ baaton - baaton mein] that she to went to work on that day for extra money ! so much for her pretence of diwali enjoyment and instead of coming to work at my house she went somewhere else.
Gone are the days when been given old clothes was seen as an extra incentive..most maids scoff and we have stop giving them practically new clothes which don't fit us. I am seriously looking around for a used clothes flea market where i can sell off clothes which are in good condition but can't wear them since i have put on weight !
I have seen blue collar workers make money off the record.. case in point people who deliver gas cylinders at your home. They demand 10 bucks extra always from me,each and every time they deliver. People pay up because they don't want to take panga and not have their gas cylinders delivered.And i am not even counting the money they might be making in selling cylinders in black ! There is a whole syndicate which then creates artificial shortage ! We have a baksheesh culture and now corruption culture where the blue collar worker makes more money which is totally unaccounted for than the poor white collar sod who gets the salary with TDS ! and the blue collar worker doesn't have to spend on degrees ! I have worked at junior and middle levels and i have never made money on the side, never been paid diwali bonus or overtime ! i think corruption benefits only blue collar worker, government officials ,politicians and huge business men !
For everyone there is quota and reservation system in government jobs ,in colleges and we have more and more castes fighting to get into reservation category.Nowadays, so many ngos and charitable organizations are dedicated to get free education to the poor but there has to be equal or more effort from the poor and low middle class too ! Instead, we find them running after latest gadgets and clothes for that they are ready to snatch gold chains and use whatever shortcuts they can use. For the lack of work ethic the blue collar workers cannot blame the okay doing folks. I have seen more middle class people and rich people work harder than i have seen blue collar worker.
The moment your driver does extra hours or maid does extra work they demand more money .I have not seen any white collar worker been paid more money to stay back and work late, or as they put it ' stretch themselves',work the week ends except perhaps in call centers [ there too they are paid in compensatory offs not money].And yet people scream and shout about how workers are treated badly ! White collar workers have no work life balance, can't take leaves when they need to ,have to and yet nobody is thinking about regularizing and restoring sanity to their jobs and lives.
And maids, shop boys ,drivers never come on time, lie and take uninformed leaves yet most rich and upper middle class people don't say anything to them for the fear of losing the helper ! Who is to say who tolerates more.
We have more gruesome murders plotted by helpers, maids and other staff in an average month than collective harassment of rich/middle class of the poor maids !The small robberies at homes go unreported because most people don't have evidences. Not everyone has CCTV cameras at home !
I have been always been treated by salespeople rudely ,mis-sold and generally looked down upon, not helped at malls.I have never been served in India cordially by blue collar workers or even adequately and i have kept my patience all the time.Rickshaw drivers always overcharge and they take special advantage once its after 10 pm[ though officially they are supposed to charge extra after midnight ], PMt bus drivers are dangerous and rude. I am tired of being taken for a ride, and treated rudely everywhere by the receptionist, bank clerks ,hospital staff ,government officials ,misinformed by carpenters, plumbers, electricians and tired of paying for poor jobs they do and they not coming on time to repair and then overcharge me too.
Whose going to change this scenario and professionalize these areas of work- or are we going to have to live with this and only have doctors,mbas and engineers by next century ?
Just yesterday i heard about domestic maid locked in while her employers were on vacation and she was thirteen. While the employers are to blame to keep her like that, the first thing that came to my mind was why did the 13 yr old's parents also not held responsible. Weren't they equally responsible ? Instead of school,why was she working ? People are quick to blame the well to do people for all this but the fact is there are always 2 sides of every coin.I have never seen maids daughters or sons interested in studies or even their parent's interested in sending them to school. They want quick money and the one maid we had produced more children for a boy whom she didn't even educate.
Out of all maids we had, all of them complained about their husbands' drinking. So they have money to drink and when employers don't feed them they raise hue and cry ! Why ? Why not fight your battles and start at from your home? I have worked for people and nobody has fed me free of cost as yet ! Yet, i have seen numerous households where they are fed everyday and then there is tea free of cost especially those who work full time.There is television to watch and then to sleep in the afternoons. Actually, i have a sneaking suspicion that maids make up this story of drinking no good husband to garner sympathy and off days with pay ! Of course, i don't empathize or encourage sob stories now.
During festivals they arm twist the employers to give not only new clothes and sweets but also bonus !Most people give happily and some grudgingly ! The last maid i had saw my mom bed ridden semi comatose, and all us in pain and worried yet she pestered me to give her money for Diwali and i was so angry that i refused her more for lack of sensitivity than anything else.She disappeared on diwali taking a chutti and the next day she told me unknowingly [ baaton - baaton mein] that she to went to work on that day for extra money ! so much for her pretence of diwali enjoyment and instead of coming to work at my house she went somewhere else.
Gone are the days when been given old clothes was seen as an extra incentive..most maids scoff and we have stop giving them practically new clothes which don't fit us. I am seriously looking around for a used clothes flea market where i can sell off clothes which are in good condition but can't wear them since i have put on weight !
I have seen blue collar workers make money off the record.. case in point people who deliver gas cylinders at your home. They demand 10 bucks extra always from me,each and every time they deliver. People pay up because they don't want to take panga and not have their gas cylinders delivered.And i am not even counting the money they might be making in selling cylinders in black ! There is a whole syndicate which then creates artificial shortage ! We have a baksheesh culture and now corruption culture where the blue collar worker makes more money which is totally unaccounted for than the poor white collar sod who gets the salary with TDS ! and the blue collar worker doesn't have to spend on degrees ! I have worked at junior and middle levels and i have never made money on the side, never been paid diwali bonus or overtime ! i think corruption benefits only blue collar worker, government officials ,politicians and huge business men !
For everyone there is quota and reservation system in government jobs ,in colleges and we have more and more castes fighting to get into reservation category.Nowadays, so many ngos and charitable organizations are dedicated to get free education to the poor but there has to be equal or more effort from the poor and low middle class too ! Instead, we find them running after latest gadgets and clothes for that they are ready to snatch gold chains and use whatever shortcuts they can use. For the lack of work ethic the blue collar workers cannot blame the okay doing folks. I have seen more middle class people and rich people work harder than i have seen blue collar worker.
The moment your driver does extra hours or maid does extra work they demand more money .I have not seen any white collar worker been paid more money to stay back and work late, or as they put it ' stretch themselves',work the week ends except perhaps in call centers [ there too they are paid in compensatory offs not money].And yet people scream and shout about how workers are treated badly ! White collar workers have no work life balance, can't take leaves when they need to ,have to and yet nobody is thinking about regularizing and restoring sanity to their jobs and lives.
And maids, shop boys ,drivers never come on time, lie and take uninformed leaves yet most rich and upper middle class people don't say anything to them for the fear of losing the helper ! Who is to say who tolerates more.
We have more gruesome murders plotted by helpers, maids and other staff in an average month than collective harassment of rich/middle class of the poor maids !The small robberies at homes go unreported because most people don't have evidences. Not everyone has CCTV cameras at home !
I have been always been treated by salespeople rudely ,mis-sold and generally looked down upon, not helped at malls.I have never been served in India cordially by blue collar workers or even adequately and i have kept my patience all the time.Rickshaw drivers always overcharge and they take special advantage once its after 10 pm[ though officially they are supposed to charge extra after midnight ], PMt bus drivers are dangerous and rude. I am tired of being taken for a ride, and treated rudely everywhere by the receptionist, bank clerks ,hospital staff ,government officials ,misinformed by carpenters, plumbers, electricians and tired of paying for poor jobs they do and they not coming on time to repair and then overcharge me too.
Whose going to change this scenario and professionalize these areas of work- or are we going to have to live with this and only have doctors,mbas and engineers by next century ?
No comments:
Post a Comment
Your feedback is invaluable !:-)