Domestic Help Are Also Family

Sometimes few comments hit so hard, that you can recall them even after many-many years. I was in class sixth, aged around ten. I was good at studies and due to this reason, I often suffered from over-confidence. I always felt that I don’t need to study before the exams. It was one such day, when the next day was supposed to be the exam day. As usual, I was over-confident and was feeling a little sleepy. I said to my mom that I was feeling a little feverish and that I would like to take rest. The maid servant was nearby. While I was convincing my mom, that my preparations were good and let me sleep a bit, the maid servant commented on me; "He is doing all this drama to avoid studies". Oh God! Hearing this comment, I started shaking with anger. Both my mother and the maid servant started feeling as if an earthquake had come. My objection was that why the maid servant commented. Who was she to comment on me? If mom said anything, it was fine. But the Maid servant has no right to comment. My Mom consoled me. I remember that I kept on weeping for a long time. I took the exam next day with a heavy heart. After I returned from the exam, my mother explained that the maid servant was also like a family member. She had been working for us since a long time and had formed attachment with each one of us. It was due to shear attachment that she made such a comment. Her intentions were only for to my betterment. At that time, I could understand my mom's logic only to some extent.

Now when I analyze this whole series of events, I am able to value my mother’s advice that gave me a sort of value system that I still possess. When I was quitting my last job and it was my last day in that office, the security guard gave me a special salute and came to me to express his feelings. The words he said touched me a lot. He said, "Sir! Your behavior was good with everyone, and it was especially very good with the working-class people". I derived a lot of inner satisfaction from his comment, much higher than my fat last pay cheque.