Shanti’s dream and resolve for her daughter

After years of juggling the responsibilities at home and at work, I hired a help for domestic chores six months ago. She’s Shanti, who unlike her name, is a garrulous gossip. She’s 30 and her favourite topic for discussion is the latest in the neighbourhood, including who’s bought expensive sarees and jewellery and who’s having an affair with whom.

While mopping the floor, she lists out the headlines of the colony news. It doesn’t affect her whether I’m listening or not. Honestly, most of the time I switch off but pretend I’m engaged in the conversation. Sometimes, she comes up with absurd queries such as why I don’t watch ‘saas-bahu’ serials like most women in the neighbourhood.

The one thing I like about her is that she has an interest in books. She smiles while seeing me read and never forgets to ask about it. “Didi, ye aap kya padh rahe ho? (What are you reading?),” she says. “It’s a novel, Shanti,” I reply without looking towards her. “Isko padh ke kya bante hain? (What does one become after reading this?)” she wants to know. Her question surprises me. “I can read only Hindi but my daughter, who is in Class 6, reads English and I am asking for her,” she says.

I told her that it’s a novel that was not for children of Class 6, but assured her that I would get books for her daughter. My assurance brought a sparkle in her eyes. She said she wanted her daughter to become a teacher.

Shanti takes interest when she finds me writing something and asks me what I’m up to. When I tell her I’m writing a book, she sits to take a look at the laptop screen and asks if her daughter can read it. Yes, once it’s complete, I tell her with a smile and she gets busy with the chores again.

One day she came with a bruised eye. She said her husband thrashed her after she refused to give him money to buy liquor. She said she has to save for paying the school fee of her daughter. It got me worried and I asked her if she had raised the issue with her parents or filed a complaint. Shanti left me stunned with her reply. She said she had beaten up her husband after he thrashed her.

What if he beat her again or deserted her, I asked. She said she did not care. She is earning and financially independent. If her husband walks out, she can take good care of herself and her daughter. She can do anything to educate her daughter because she does not want her daughter to work as a house help.

She surprised me with her reply. Though she is not educated, she is aware of her rights and does not consider daughters any less than sons.

SHE SURPRISED ME WITH HER REPLY. THOUGH SHE IS NOT EDUCATED, SHE DOES NOT CONSIDER DAUGHTERS ANY LESS THAN SONS