Savitaben and Kokilaben
Soon it was time to pack up from Bangalore. This was the only time when the shift was on account of my transfer .Until now and also future transfer were on account of my husband getting transferred or changing his job. This time I had to shift as I had done my stint in the Regional offices of the firm and it was time to be at the HQ. As that involved quite a good job enrichment opportunity I decided to make the move to Anand, in Gujarat.
Even before my household items were being off loaded at Anand by the packers and movers, I had four to five maids vying with one another for jobs. Anand is one place were I did not have to go through the ordeal of searching for a maid. From the half a dozen who came searching for a job I zeroed in on two – Savitha ben for the household work and Kokilaben for the cooking. This was a strategy I picked up from my Aunt in Delhi. Her logic was on days one of them didn’t turn up ,you at least had the other. So one does not get saddled by all the work. That seemed to make a lot of sense and since there seemed to be a buyers market as far as maids were concerned, in Anand, I opted for this.
The discussion of terms of employment was rather unusual; at least I was not used to it. It sounded like a legal contract the way the terms were being spelled out. Every little item was spelled out in the minutest of details, if 10 chapattis ‘x’ amount if 12 chapattis ‘y’ amount an additional ‘a’ amount for a ‘sabzi’ ‘b’ amount for ‘dal’ etc. It was not just the cook but the cleaning lady too. It appeared to be standard operating procedure. ‘x’ amount for washing clothes an additional ‘y’ amount if dry clothes needed to be folded and put away so on and so forth.
I did think that we were in for legal battles after that but I learnt to the contrary that everything went smoothly after that. The contract was adhered to in letter and spirit. Any extra work on any day would involve an extra payment that was all.
But work that had been contracted for just happened without any ado.
Rain or shine Kokilla ben would be there on the dot .She carried key to 10 houses mine was the 11th scheduled for 11 am. She would flit in and out of house like a honey bee. Hardly 30 minutes in my house the chapatti, exact number contracted for a sabzi a dal and a snack for the evening would all be ready served at the table and she would be off to the next house. Six sharp back again to make the chapattis for dinner.Kokilaben did not do the dishes, it would bee stacked neatly in the utility area with water poured into it and left for Savitaben. I thought this would be a potential area of conflict. When my Aunt in Delhi shared with me her strategy of two maids, she had warned that I would have keep aside an hour on Sundays, to resolve conflicts between the two. On no occasion were there any problems between the two. I guess that was the detailed pre employment agreement was all about.
Seeing their absolute trustworthiness, I gave a set of keys to Savitaben too, that gave her an opportunity to work early mornings in another house for which she was so obliged that she would go beyond her contract and clean inside of all the cupboards .On no occasion did I have to point out any undone task or shoddy work everything was done to perfection. Not a single item was taken from the house though both worked in my absence.
Anand was one place I never lost sleep over a maid problem. On the rare occasion either of them took leave they would somehow manage to get the word across, so you never felt you were stranded.
I always wondered what made them so different from the maids else where. That initial hardcore commercial discussion seems to be the secret. Elsewhere they promise the moon and they dish out the minimum requirement. Where as here they deliver what they promise. Word of mouth, no written contract but that was sacrosanct. There was so much to be learnt from them. Even by corporates. The goal setting, the execution of goals, the total quality orientation, the reliability, the time management, the team spirit, the accountability, and so much more.
Soon it was time to pack up from Bangalore. This was the only time when the shift was on account of my transfer .Until now and also future transfer were on account of my husband getting transferred or changing his job. This time I had to shift as I had done my stint in the Regional offices of the firm and it was time to be at the HQ. As that involved quite a good job enrichment opportunity I decided to make the move to Anand, in Gujarat.
Even before my household items were being off loaded at Anand by the packers and movers, I had four to five maids vying with one another for jobs. Anand is one place were I did not have to go through the ordeal of searching for a maid. From the half a dozen who came searching for a job I zeroed in on two – Savitha ben for the household work and Kokilaben for the cooking. This was a strategy I picked up from my Aunt in Delhi. Her logic was on days one of them didn’t turn up ,you at least had the other. So one does not get saddled by all the work. That seemed to make a lot of sense and since there seemed to be a buyers market as far as maids were concerned, in Anand, I opted for this.
The discussion of terms of employment was rather unusual; at least I was not used to it. It sounded like a legal contract the way the terms were being spelled out. Every little item was spelled out in the minutest of details, if 10 chapattis ‘x’ amount if 12 chapattis ‘y’ amount an additional ‘a’ amount for a ‘sabzi’ ‘b’ amount for ‘dal’ etc. It was not just the cook but the cleaning lady too. It appeared to be standard operating procedure. ‘x’ amount for washing clothes an additional ‘y’ amount if dry clothes needed to be folded and put away so on and so forth.
I did think that we were in for legal battles after that but I learnt to the contrary that everything went smoothly after that. The contract was adhered to in letter and spirit. Any extra work on any day would involve an extra payment that was all.
But work that had been contracted for just happened without any ado.
Rain or shine Kokilla ben would be there on the dot .She carried key to 10 houses mine was the 11th scheduled for 11 am. She would flit in and out of house like a honey bee. Hardly 30 minutes in my house the chapatti, exact number contracted for a sabzi a dal and a snack for the evening would all be ready served at the table and she would be off to the next house. Six sharp back again to make the chapattis for dinner.Kokilaben did not do the dishes, it would bee stacked neatly in the utility area with water poured into it and left for Savitaben. I thought this would be a potential area of conflict. When my Aunt in Delhi shared with me her strategy of two maids, she had warned that I would have keep aside an hour on Sundays, to resolve conflicts between the two. On no occasion were there any problems between the two. I guess that was the detailed pre employment agreement was all about.
Seeing their absolute trustworthiness, I gave a set of keys to Savitaben too, that gave her an opportunity to work early mornings in another house for which she was so obliged that she would go beyond her contract and clean inside of all the cupboards .On no occasion did I have to point out any undone task or shoddy work everything was done to perfection. Not a single item was taken from the house though both worked in my absence.
Anand was one place I never lost sleep over a maid problem. On the rare occasion either of them took leave they would somehow manage to get the word across, so you never felt you were stranded.
I always wondered what made them so different from the maids else where. That initial hardcore commercial discussion seems to be the secret. Elsewhere they promise the moon and they dish out the minimum requirement. Where as here they deliver what they promise. Word of mouth, no written contract but that was sacrosanct. There was so much to be learnt from them. Even by corporates. The goal setting, the execution of goals, the total quality orientation, the reliability, the time management, the team spirit, the accountability, and so much more.
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