Ruby is truly a gem (pun intended)

Ruby is my domestic help. My third one in New Delhi. My best one in life.

She is young, happy-go-lucky and docile. She has been working at my place since 1 and half months now, and I am so blessed to have her. But I am also grateful for the decision that I want to have a long-term alliance with her. That helped me treat her differently from how I have been dealing with my previous maidservants.

And even as I write this, I am finding it awkward to refer to her as my maid. Because we have taken such liking, respect and responsibility for each other, that she feels like family.

Maids are an indispensable wheel in the machinery of Indian households. They are the backbone of housekeeping, and if you have an efficient one, a huge part of your worries has vanished. And yet, in India, it is very common to find employers and domestic helpers hold grudges against each other. The employers feel that they pay so much and yet have to bear tantrums from the D.H, while the latter fear being squeezed the juice out of, and basically exploited.

So, trust definitely does not exist in such relationships. Little appreciation from the Es and little conscientiousness from the D.Hs. A cycle of dissatisfaction and sadness on both sides.

I have suffered, and I assume my maids must have too. But before I took Ruby on, I decided to do things differently. To do them the way Stephen Covey suggests. To build trust, to see the relationship beyond what it represents, to respect the humanness of an employee and to work for it as though it were going to last a lifetime, much like family.

And I have succeeded. Compliments, polite corrective feedback, taking interest in her life, sharing my own with her, delegating tasks and trusting she will do them right - has gone a looooooong way! Plus Meghu and I have undertaken to teach her English everyday. She tells us she hasn't had employers like us. Her mother says we are her favourites. She demonstrates extra loyalty to us over others who have employed her. She loves her English words. And I think, she loves us too :)

We are more than happy. I am thrilled that I have successfully forged a beautiful relationship with my helper. That the whole concept actually works, and how! That she has accepted us to such a depth, that she completes additional tasks without being asked to, apart from perfectly executing already delegated ones. She wants to impress, she wants to keep the love coming to her. And she frees my mental space drastically for other endeavours.

She is one blessing I can't be thankful enough for.

Her being excited to come to work everyday, chat with us, share with us, get educated leaves a very meaningful and satisfied feeling in our hearts. Then we too want to overdeliver. We have happily given her Diwali gifts beyond her expectation. We are taking her English education seriously. Meghu helps her revise EVERYDAY while I am at work. We never deny her leaves.

Our cycle of giving freely has begun. We are only joyed to see each other everyday. I love this relationship!!