Maaya

The intercom rang & it was my acquaintance from the building where I stay.She asked  " Maaya works for you ? " I said that she did but had taken a day off as there was a puja at her mother's place.My neighbour informed me that she wanted to speak to Maaya for enagaging her as a maid at her home.I promised that I will convey her enquiry & send Maaya across to her flat.

My parents were to go for the puja & I told my mother to convey the enquiry to Maaya if she gets to meet her at the puja.My mom forgot about it.I was angry as I knew that Maaya had few jobs now & she needed new ones.

The next day,the intercom rang again.This time around ,it was Maaya.She told me,"I will come to your home around eleven as my mother has not come in today." I said," Yesterday ,Smt.Sharma asked about you.She wants to employ you.Please go & talk to her ,now." Maaya agreed.I had urged her to go & meet Mrs.Sharma that moment as she had narrowly missed another job a few days ago as she had got late.

Maaya has been with me since seven years now.Though she is dark,she has a  face which is pretty & lights up as she wears a smile all the time.I wonder how she can grin & bear it all.

She was married off to her elder sister's husband as soon as his wife expired as the kids needed to be looked after.She also has her own kids .Her daughter ( her sister's child ) was married but soon,she returned home owing to ill treatment at her husband's home. Maaya then paid a fortune & got her admitted to a nursing college so that she would remain enagaged in something useful.But after completing the course successfully,the daughter refused to go & join as a nurse anywhere .Maaya keeps telling her daughter that she can keep her earnings to herself but she must go for a nursing job so that she can feel confident.But so far ,the bitiya has refused to obey.Her neighbours opine that she has been so fortunate to have a mother who thinks only of her daughter's well being in such trying circumstances but to no avail.Maaya has yet to repay the loan which she had taken for her daughter's wedding which went wrong !

Maaya has never complained that she is the second wife.She is happy though she is more educated than her hubby.She is the only one amongst four sisters to complete schooling upto twelfth standard.She even applied for a Railway job but drew a blank as the exams she gave were cancelled for some leakage of papers.

She cooks for all at home before she leaves home for her maid servant's job.Her mother-in-law is an invalid & she needs looking after.Maya has three sons ( two of her own ) & one daughter who just lazes at home.Her hubby & eldest son are employed as drivers.Her hubby had met with a near fatal accident some years back but is back on his feet now .

Maaya used to do lot of vrats & upvaas -so much so that every alternate day,she was off food.This has led to severe acidity & insomonia.She has become obese because of this habit of fasting.Thankfully,now she has given up many vrats .She also suffers from aches & pains every now & then but I never heard her whine even once about her physical ailments.I only come to know that she was having severe pain in the neck when she said that she was taking a day off to go to the hospital for an appointment.

She is most sought after for her services as she goes about her work with utmost sincerity.That is why when her mother went to ask Mrs Sharma if she could work as Maaya was busy elsewhere,Mrs Sharma curtly said ," Let Maaya only do the work at my place as I had a face to face talk with her." What she omitted to tell Mayya' mother is that she had been impressed by Maaya's cleanliness at her neighbour's home wherein she had worked for a brief period.This she  divulged to me when she rang me up to ask about Maaya's whereabouts on the intercom.

Though Maaya's mother can hardly be compared to Maaya in virtues,one must give full credit to her for having brought her up so well that Maaya is an asset to all ! This includes those households wherein  she works.She scrubs the toilet which she uses for filling the bucket for floor wiping ! This despite the fact, that, I have still to employ her for cleaning toilets at  my home .She will always clean the tea kettle which I have used for making tea for her, unlike, her mother .She will always take off by informing beforehand.

She is someone who emapthises with fellow maids .She lost a job at a beauty parlour as another maid got there before Maaya  could  go & meet the owner. Maaya was composed  as she opined,"I am garib & so is she ."This positive attitude has stood Maaya through all these turbulent times.Perhaps, she believes, that the Brahamand is a Mithya -an illusion just like her name ! She has  understood the Bhagvad Gita without even reading it .I wish I could say this about myself.Maybe, her association with me will make me comprehend  that all the world is  Mithya with certain exceptions.As a clichéd saying goes to state exceptions prove the law more than anything else.