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 When I was in my teens, my married sister had
left her 3 month old baby with us and had gone to visit her husband in London.
Thought there were plenty of servants, my mother wanted to keep a proper ayah
for the little baby. After looking for one, for quite sometime, we finally came
across Alice. She was in her early forties, hefty and strong looking. After
being employed, she took complete charge of the small boy. She was very strict
about looking after the baby. He had fixed hours of massage, bath, sleep, food
and play. None of us were allowed to disrupt the routine of the dear little
baby. My mother was very impressed by Alice and the way she looked after the
baby.
I remember I was quite in awe of Alice and tried to keep away from her and the
baby too. One day, the baby was sleeping peacefully and I was trying to iron my
dress in the adjoining room. Alice came inside and said - "Leave it Missy Baba,
I will do it." I was quite surprised and left the work to her. She happily
finished ironing all my clothes and wanted to know if there were more to be
done. Since that day, we became friends and whenever she was free, she used to
oil my hair and made plaits for me. She also used to cook tasty dishes for us in
her free time while the baby was with my mother or father.
In the evenings, she would
dress the little boy in smart clothes and take him to the nearby park in his
pram.
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When my sister returned, she took the baby to another town where
she lived with her husband and we had to let Alice go. She only took the
fixed salary and nothing else and went away to look for another job, saying
she would visit us soon. When I talk to my relatives who have ayahs, they
name an exorbitant amount which they hand over to them just for looking
after the kids. In those days, during the 3 months Alice stayed with us, she
just took her salary for looking after the baby but did so much more. She
could easily have asked for extra cash or kind for all the cooking, washing,
ironing etc she did for free.
Once, a few years later, my parents had gone out of town but I had stayed
back to attend college. Though my uncle and aunt were staying with me as
Chaperone, I used to miss my parents. One day, as I was sitting alone with
my books in a pensive mood, someone knocked on the door. I got up to open it
and exclaimed in delight - "Oh! its you Alice! How nice of you to come and
visit." Alice caught me in her arms and asked about my parents. On learning
about them not being in town, she offered to stay the nights till they came
back. |
She told me she was working
nearby and could come over in the evenings and stay the night. I was thrilled to
have her. During those evenings, and late nights, she would regale me with funny
stories of her childhood which made me laugh so much that tears came to my eyes.
She also sympathized with me on learning that father was not keeping too well.
My parents returned and after meeting them, Alice went on her way. This was the
last we saw of her. We supposed she must have left the city for her native
village because she had told us she didn't like working anywhere else after
leaving our work.
In this day and age when I needed an ayah for my kids but couldn't find
anyone as dedicated and unselfish as Alice, I truly miss her!
Contributed By:
Madhuri
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