Delhi's maids get upwardly mobile

NEW DELHI: When Maggie came to Delhi from Jharkhand, she was terrified of traffic signals.
After eight years — mostly with upper crust families — she’s on to a blue-chip, all-expenses-paid and no-taxes career.
She speaks English, bakes bread and takes messages from American teachers of her employer’s child. She is a housekeeper, making Rs 6,000 a month.Pretty good, for someone who didn’t even get the chance to go to school. ‘‘I wouldn’t get married and blow it all up,� she says.
Step aside, Maid in Manhattan for the Delhi Domestic.
Maids from farway villages are arriving here to scale up their profession like never before. Artless, rural girls are transforming themselves into smart and urbane professionals.
Check out Grace, who works for Anke Wagner, a young German woman. Says Wagner: ‘‘She was still a learner when she came, today she makes excellent German potato salad and pasta, knows her manners and speaks English.’’
It took two months of Continental cooking lessons for Grace to get it right. She saves up her Rs 4,000, a month’s salary ‘‘not for marriage, but a house.’’ She prefers expats.
Pamela Lal, whose English diction will stump you, came from Jhansi when her Anglo-Indian employers migrated. ‘‘In Delhi, people do not know the meaning of housekeepers, everyone is treated like a naukrani,’’ she says. She is now a masseur.
Then there are girls like Christina, employed with an MP, whom we tried to reach. ‘‘Call her mobile please,’’ said another staff-member.
Actually, money, perks and mobiles are only part of it. The real mobility is upwards, into the lives of movers and shakers.
Elizabeth was with a family in Sundar Nagar where Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka were frequent visitors. ‘‘They knew me by name and we even went for holidays together,’’ she recalls. From serving their mistresses, Elizabeth and her sisters are now mistresses of their lives.