The American Washing Machine Menace

AND where do I park my car?" It was a prospective maid being interviewed for a job. Luckily it was in Washington. But we shall soon cometo that in Delhi. I am between maids and the last three I interviewed had a proliferation of household gadgets. It was easier to dispose of the candidate who confessed that she had eight family members, since we mutually agreed that they could not possibly fit into a small servants' quarter meant either for single servants or a couple with at the most one small child. But what do you say when the candidate informs you that, apart from four family members, there is a refrigerator, a cooler, a TV set, a two-in-one and a washing machine? The electricity to be paid for by the employer, of course. Since their salaries can hardly rise to washing machines and considering all those police warnings, I thought it was legitimate to ask tactfully how much they had paid for the washing machine. All three gave the same answer: "The American mem sahib I worked for gave it to me when she left." As if Robin Raphel were not bad enough, those wretched Americans, who first sent house-rents soaring with astronomical sums which look much smaller in dollars, have now started corrupting our domestic helps. We shall soon have to start vacating our garages for their cars and no doubt borrowing their American washing machines when our desi ones break down.