Two days off

It was a regular Wednesday for me. I was working as per my usual schedule. The househelp Kanta came at her regular time that was 10:30 in the morning. I continued my work while Kanta finished her daily chores. After finishing her work Kanta came to my room to speak with me.

"Didi I need two days off," she said while fidgeting with the pallu of her saree.

I looked in her direction and I had not yet decided what to say. I never ask her the reason for taking the days off or I never even tell her that she should come early and finish the work instead of taking the day off. Being a working women I know that how painful it is to ask for leave from the boss. I try to avoid that agony for my househelp.

While Kanta knew that I was not asking her for the reason she herself decided to tell me the reason for taking 2 days off, "I am shifting to a new place".

This was shocking to me. I asked her, "what happened? You shifted to this home two months ago. Are you not liking this new home? Is there any trouble?" People do not shift homes so quickly hence I was definitely worried for her.

"No didi nothing like that. My husband got a new job," Kanta mentioned.

Now this made me even more confused. As she asked me for 2 days off meant she was going to shift somewhere within the city. If her husband's job was in a different city she would have left the job and moved to a different city. But shifting because of her husband's new job was something that was not sitting right with me.

Maybe my expressions were quite evident. Kanta decided to explain further, "didi my husband had lost his job for a couple of months. He had been home taking care of our children. Now that he got the job he would not be home to take care of our young daughter. We are moving to the area where one of my relatives stays. So in the morning before coming here I will drop my daughter at my relatives place and then I will come here. Once I am done with my work while going home I will pick up my daughter and then I will head home".

Now everything made sense to me. I told her to return whenever her shifting work was done and if she needed more days she could take those days off. Thinking about her I realised how family decisions are difficult. A home where there are children, even a small change requires drastic change in the environment. I could see that in her case, one change was triggering the entire chain of events. It was commendable how for few months she was the bread winner and her husband took the role of homemaker. When the parents are working the children had to be placed under care of someone home they trust. In my opinion Kanta had made the right decision considering the health, safety, and wellbeing of her children.

As Kanta left my home I too decided to stop thinking about her responsibilities and continue my work.