Saturday, May 5, 2012

Our Honeymoon may be over

I have written about house staff in the past.  The hiring and firing of many a drivers was our issue for several months.  We have finally settled on one driver whom we have kept for almost a year now.  He has stayed with us not because he is everything we need in a driver and more.  Or that we are such a great family to work with and pay him loads of money and allow tons of time off (with pay of course).  Neither of the above statements are true but we do have a driver that has managed to stay employed for eleven months.  Neither of us turning cartwheels at the end of the day but both agreeing, it's a job and it's a driver, we will continue again tomorrow with the same. 
Our house staff of ONE happened upon us when we first arrived in Delhi.  As it turned out she was a friend of the house manger from the flat below ours.  She had no family domestic experience but worked in hotels and boutiques and had been training with the household below ours to refine her skills in hopes of getting a job of her own.
More out of need for an interpreter and fully respecting the work that interpreters do, I hired this gal back in December 2010 and she has been our family's personal assistant ever since.  She manages all our comings and goings.  Makes sure the kids have the water bottles in the refrigerator the night before on hot days and jacket ready for the taking on the cool days.  She cleans the house, does the laundry, washes and sweeps the floors, manages the water and gas levels in our flat and calls for replenishing when needed.  She does shopping when I ask her, and saves me a bunch of money because she does not get the "foreigner" price, plus she knows how to bargain much better than me.  She told us when we interviewed her that she would learn to work with a family if we hired her.  We told her we would learn how to live/act with an employee in the house.  For the most part it has been a dream come true.  She is honest, caring, frugal and wise.  She reads and writes both English and Hindi, she always has a charge on her phone to return my calls and is constantly coming to work on time and performing above her call of duty.
She has also been waiting for her visa to process for a three month trip out of India to see family/friends.  We knew when we hired her that this day would be coming.  She was upfront and warned us when we interviewed her.  At the time we thought it was a long way off and we could find a replacement when the time comes.  The time is here and I must say the thought of replacing such a natural part of my life in India is breaking my heart.  I need to interview people who can do the job but I know in my heart, no one person will do the job that K could do.  K rarely cooked for us but in search of our new staff we would like to look for a cook AND housekeeper.  Honestly, I really just need the fit that K brought to my family.  Making our house a home even with someone who was not of OUR family in it.  We love you K-sang and we will miss you!

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