You read it right, the title of the post has been spelt correctly. The post is dedicated to our house maid for the last 2.5 years. Her name is Aunty, or wait, I just realised that all this while I never ever asked her what her real name was, but I had trusted her with a pair of house keys, so that she can finish with her household chores and cooking during mid day, while all of us guys busy with work at the office.
Bai plays a very important role at a crucial juncture in every young man's life especially in a city like Mumbai. It is that specific age, when mother has put in her papers and taken a voluntary retirement from all responsibilities of her now big enough son. But the wife to-be who theoretically is supposed to be taking over from the mother, is still busy juggling work pressure at office and pressure from parents to get married. When the decision becomes so difficult, she finds the easier way out in postponing the marriage decision. Now this is where, the Bai pitches in with those splendid alu ki sabzi and dal makhani, and once in a while on those few good days, a phirni or paneer parathas. One of the reason our bais enjoys working at our place is the total autonomy we grant her. She works on flexi timings. She decides on the menu for the day, which mostly depends on her mood at that time and also the vegetables we had bought on the weekend. When the vegetable stock is exhausted, the signal is very simple. Soaked channa and green gram make their appearance.
Bai sometimes play a very proactive role as well. Like, if you don't put your clothes for wash regularly, she even takes the privilege to scout through your personal clothing & herself chooses the ones needing a wash. A friend had an extreme-bai experience, when his elderly bai threatened to inform his mother about his excessive smoking & drinking habits. Damn, the threat worked. Bai's definitely don't like mommies visiting their sonnies. Now with mommy monitoring every step of their work, their effectiveness needs to be doubled. Mommies don't understand the cost of living factor in Mumbai and feel its their right get the bai work for every penny they pay her. No wonder, mommies visits have been ranked reason #1 for the high attrition among bais in Mumbai, as per one survey published in respected Mumbai mirror tabloid.
For teaching the few words in marathi to issuing flood warnings on rainy days, It is time I said, Thank you aunty. I know, I really liked the corn palak and alu paratha you cooked today. But this thank you has a wider scope and is meant for everything you do to make our poor bachelor life a little bit better. Long time since we had phirni, if you don't mind, please. You can find the kaju – kishmish on the second drawer on the right :).
Get this translated, print it out and put it on the kitchen counter. I dont see any other way you're getting that phirni.
ReplyDeleteAnd expect fireworks from the wife to-be for the scintillating job description! :P
@Ishu .. hehe .. cooking is a connoisseur's art .. wife to-be should feel privileged to practice the art and deserve the accolades that come with it :)
ReplyDeleteYou'll get killed for this one... by mum & wife-to-be. might be useful for you to know where the rolling pin is in advance ... so you can hide it before it's used on you. :)
ReplyDelete@Anu & @Ishu ..
ReplyDeleteThe must awaited clarification below :)
Bai is a special person for whom the affection is comparable to Mother and Wife-to be .. so the comparison is in that context and not Bai as a lowly individual, as might have been misunderstood.
I still stand by what I said, I see cooking as a connoiseur's art and not as a working women's burden .. depends on the way you choose to see it :)