Bai bye bye- will we ever say this?

Why is an Indian household incomplete without a bai? many of us have pondered over this thought and still hired one. Let me explain the concept of the bai to people who may not know her too well. A bai is a house maid, she is a helping hand in the never ending house chores in Indian homes.

She will do as much as you pay her, they come in all kinds, they are part time ones, then you have the full time ones, there are the in house maids too. But they all have their own conditions and no two 'bai's have the same process of work.

In our diverse land you will find that almost everyone who can afford has to have a Bai. Be it towns or cities, villages or taluks, the rich and the famous and the not so rich and the famous, every body needs her. In some HIndi movies the eternal Ramu kaka tried to replace the Shanta bai, but alas, kaka had to give up to make room for the fairer sex.

Now, the more you pay her the more comfort she gives you. NRI's miss this comfort and so hire one and also pay for her ticket when they take her abroad. SInce Indians are not the best at DYI situations, they think it is really best to take one from here to give the memsahib some relief from the house work.

I always thought that we  have one simply because we can afford her and because mummy cant do everything on her own and i didnt want to do the work either. Only after all these years of home makergiri have i really understood why maids are so important.

Its all because the Of the MEN! yes its them, now dont get me wrong, its not some men like Shiney Ahuja i am talking about who need bai's for other reasons, i am talking about men in general, like my husband, ur husband, her brother, her father.. MEN as a race..

They dont want to help around the home at all. its like i get the bread, so you do everything, even if the woman does get the share of the bread, still she is expected to balance things and strike a balance between work and homework. A man doesnt want to get up from his sofa and even arrange the dinner table, nor does he think drying the clothes for a change would be quite a help to the poor wife, or take the kids out for a change, or for that matter, give the dhobi clothes for ironing, damn they dont even know, where the clothes are.

And all this, thanks to mommys.. Mommys are always pampering the sons which makes them the king who shouldnt do anything at home. He is ghar ka beta, or man of the house, and he shouldnt be asked to clean even his stinking bathroom and toilet. Gosh, can you beat that, men in our country and maybe others too, i havent seen much families outside.. generally, men are lords..

and so, alaas, the BAI rules.

The bai gives us trouble, takes huge amounts as salary and doesnt show up just when the 'bartan' have over flowed  from the sink. Just when you are going to have 10 people for lunch, just when you had that very important class to attend.. In short we are at the mercy of this all doer woman, who is so capable in what she does tat she can finish the entire household work in an hours time and you thought it would take the entire day.

That is why we pay them so much. That is the reason, Indian Bai is indispensible..