(...)
Perhaps the most puzzling aspect of the story is why it has caused such fury in a country where, after all, the sight of a youthful servant rarely raises a flicker of curiosity. Delhi's thriving middle class would crumble without its army of domestic servants, whose presence enables couples to go out to work and continue to boost an economy projected to be the largest in the world by 2050.
The most liberal members of that society think nothing of employing a maid, a driver, a sweeper, a cook, a gardener and a couple of house boys who sleep on the roof, or in tiny shared rooms.
(...)
The outcry over the Delhi maid was encouraging, said Ribhu, in that it opened people's eyes to the reality of what is going on. But he is not getting too excited about the arrests. They were, he said, an anomaly in a country where many people simply do not understand that using children as servants is wrong."Recently, I was in a mall where I saw a couple with a 10- or 11-year-old girl taking care of their baby while they were eating. When I confronted them, the lady replied that: 'She is in such a good condition here – she would starve to death in her village. Who will go feed her there? And she has even been taught English'," he said. "When I asked her if she realised that she was committing a crime, she replied that the girl was being kept just like her own daughter and she is 'even brought to the mall … can anyone in her village even dream of such a luxury, of going to the mall?' "I explained as nicely as possible to her husband that if I were to call the police to their house, they would be arrested, and if the girl was 'like their daughter', why was she not eating with them at the same table? And he had no answer." Full story...
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Perhaps the most puzzling aspect of the story is why it has caused such fury in a country where, after all, the sight of a youthful servant rarely raises a flicker of curiosity. Delhi's thriving middle class would crumble without its army of domestic servants, whose presence enables couples to go out to work and continue to boost an economy projected to be the largest in the world by 2050.
The most liberal members of that society think nothing of employing a maid, a driver, a sweeper, a cook, a gardener and a couple of house boys who sleep on the roof, or in tiny shared rooms.
(...)
The outcry over the Delhi maid was encouraging, said Ribhu, in that it opened people's eyes to the reality of what is going on. But he is not getting too excited about the arrests. They were, he said, an anomaly in a country where many people simply do not understand that using children as servants is wrong."Recently, I was in a mall where I saw a couple with a 10- or 11-year-old girl taking care of their baby while they were eating. When I confronted them, the lady replied that: 'She is in such a good condition here – she would starve to death in her village. Who will go feed her there? And she has even been taught English'," he said. "When I asked her if she realised that she was committing a crime, she replied that the girl was being kept just like her own daughter and she is 'even brought to the mall … can anyone in her village even dream of such a luxury, of going to the mall?' "I explained as nicely as possible to her husband that if I were to call the police to their house, they would be arrested, and if the girl was 'like their daughter', why was she not eating with them at the same table? And he had no answer." Full story...
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