We live in a premium apartment in Bangalore, where the educated and upper middle class live. My maid, Roohi has been working with me for the past eight months now. She comes twice a day - in the morning to help clean the house and evening to make rotis. Sometimes, in the evening, I chop the veggies for the night, while she makes the rotis, and in my Hindi and her Urdu, we manage a conversation surrounding food.
Of late, Roohi has been looking tired, and today I asked her the reason. They have been asked to move out of her in-laws place, her husband lost his job, and now, she does not have money to buy ration for her kids and husband. I gave her some money, and asked her if she was willing to take up a job in one more house. Her answer was this: "I went to many places asking for a job. But when they see my burqa, they say they don't want me to work for them."
I was angry, agitated, and a certain remorse and disregard for this society nagged me from within. These are educated people. People who go to premium institution. People who work in multinational companies. Would they have a problem if their manager was a Muslim? Would they have a problem if they worked in UAE under a sheikh? Why the bias?
All I could do was reassure Roohi that there would be somebody willing to be a human being and offer her a job. All she did was give me a smile, and then she went back to making rotis.
Of late, Roohi has been looking tired, and today I asked her the reason. They have been asked to move out of her in-laws place, her husband lost his job, and now, she does not have money to buy ration for her kids and husband. I gave her some money, and asked her if she was willing to take up a job in one more house. Her answer was this: "I went to many places asking for a job. But when they see my burqa, they say they don't want me to work for them."
I was angry, agitated, and a certain remorse and disregard for this society nagged me from within. These are educated people. People who go to premium institution. People who work in multinational companies. Would they have a problem if their manager was a Muslim? Would they have a problem if they worked in UAE under a sheikh? Why the bias?
All I could do was reassure Roohi that there would be somebody willing to be a human being and offer her a job. All she did was give me a smile, and then she went back to making rotis.
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