[Chetan_Rao]

That advert is stupid.

Anyone coming in from outside with pathogen-infested hands, should be washing their hands to get rid of it, not play musical chairs with what surfaces/items they can avoid touching.

Coronavirus ingested off atta/roti isn't going to taste any different if ingested off a doorknob.

[bluevolt]

Originally Posted by SmartCat

Looks like even big brands like Kent are targeting those who are cautious about getting infected by covid-19:
.

They are further targetting extra cautious. Taking good advantage of the opportunity. The irony is that people today will buy anything that these companies are selling for the fake sake of protection from COVID!

[am1m]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

What would you do about guests?

Well sir, I think a lot of people will not be inviting guests in for some time yet.

A couple of days ago, my wife and I went over to a close friend's place. It was our mistake for not calling ahead, but since we were in the area, we thought we'd drop in like we usually have been doing for years. She was hospitable and was initially very happy to see us. My wife and I were also so happy to be interacting in person with someone other than each other after almost two months! Phones calls and video calls are really not a patch on the real thing.

But after a while, it became pretty obvious that our friend was not entirely comfortable. Since we're old friends, we were able to frankly ask if our being there was causing her some discomfort and she admitted that she was still scared about covid spread. We excused ourselves and left soon after. I'm guessing a lot of scrubbing and wiping happened after we left.

Thinking logically, since it's just the the two of us at our home and we have been working from home for the past two months, we have interacted a lot less with people compared to that friend who has family living in different parts of the city and has been visiting them. So the chances of us being exposed from that side were actually higher than the reverse (both are minuscule but mathematically higher). But I have absolutely no issues with that, it was really our mistake to drop in without checking first. I guess that will become normal now, to ask if it's ok to come to someone's house and to not be offended if they say no. Personally, I will have absolutely no issues with any of my friends dropping in to my house, I trust them to take the necessary simple precautions like not going out if they are ill and I will take the sensible precautions too like washing hands before eating and other normal things. Nothing overboard because I don't think that makes any sense.

There will be the majority of people who will not care about taking precautions, as can already be seen on the roads, or will not be financially in a position to have the luxury of social distancing, work from home, etc. Then there will be those who will continue to be super-cautious as long as they can.

Each to their own really. But the fact is this situation is going to be around for a long time yet. We'll just have to live with it.

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

That advert is stupid.

And this thread which kinda attributes to the same paranoia/fear quotient isn't?

Sorry to point this out, @V.Narayan sir's immediate reaction was on the dot. Considering the backlash those ads are getting on Twitter/social media, the reactions on this thread are quite 'moderated'. Nothing against any specific bhpians; unfortunately it's the observed norm across societies during the lockdown.

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

And this thread which kinda attributes to the same paranoia/fear quotient isn't?

All I'll say is there's no SOP to mitigate paranoia. Emphasis on 'S', because each of us need to decide individually how paranoid we want to be.

I called the advert stupid because it's discriminatory on top of being paranoid. What if the maid gets infected because the (mem)sahib didn't sanitize the Atta container properly after getting one from the supermarket or e-commerce home delivery?

P.S. One could argue this thread does the same but it isn't asking people to buy its stuff to propagate it.

[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by am1m

Well sir, I think a lot of people will not be inviting guests in for some time yet.

I always read your posts with interest. You always write with maturity and often bring a fresh perspective. Thank you for the trouble you took to answer my question placed to the OP. Despite the way I framed the question I'll confess it was tongue-in-cheek.....the mischievous school boy in me is alive and kicking :-)

All,

Going some what off topic. The maid-cook we have today at my home is light years ahead of the maid we had say in 1969 ie half a century ago. I recall her and her family with alacrity. Our domestic help today are financially at the edge of or well within the lower middle class of India and aspirationally they are in the middle-middle class of India. We the upper socio-economic classes have in many parts got frozen in time where our views about our domestic help is concerned. They see themselves and their future very differently than how we see them. Some of us {fortunately not all} have a lot of catching up to do.

If the Indian economy were to once again sputter to life and grow at 7% per annum in real terms for 10 years few will want a job as a domestic maid. Need to get ready for that day :-) The times they are a changing.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

Our domestic help today are financially at the edge of or well within the lower middle class of India and aspirationally they are in the middle-middle class of India. We the upper socio-economic classes have in many parts got frozen in time where our views about our domestic help is concerned. They see themselves and their future very differently than how we see them. Some of us {fortunately not all} have a lot of catching up to do.

I'll say... our cook's daughter is preparing for IAS exam, while studying in a premier college (St.Joseph's) in Bangalore. In 10 years she could be the DC of my district.

[v1p3r]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

If the Indian economy were to once again sputter to life and grow at 7% per annum in real terms for 10 years few will want a job as a domestic maid. Need to get ready for that day :-) The times they are a changing.

Yes, this is already happening in the bigger cities. In Bangalore, no one who has been local for more than 1 generation now works in a domestic help role. Their families have scaled the socio-economic ladder and have possibly purchased property whose value has increased. 20 years ago, domestic help was Kannada, Tamil and Telugu speaking. Today, the workforce in this strata is almost entirely Odia / Bengali speaking.

Glad to see that we've been able to grow as a whole. Hope it continues and betters.

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

We the upper socio-economic classes have in many parts got frozen in time where our views about our domestic help is concerned. They see themselves and their future very differently than how we see them. Some of us {fortunately not all} have a lot of catching up to do.

If the Indian economy were to once again sputter to life and grow at 7% per annum in real terms for 10 years few will want a job as a domestic maid. Need to get ready for that day :-) The times they are a changing.

+100

Completely agree! My previous Mumbai apartment maid (@Powai) gave me a lot of learning to do on their aspirations and plans for their kids over the 2 years she worked at my place. A few examples

- Explained to me how they were living in the slum area behind Powai simply for the reason that they were expecting the govt/builder lobby to take that land in the near future; and they would be given apartments in lieu of that

- Regularly conducted birthday parties (also invited us for the same every year) for their son & daughters with proper cake cutting and all (cakes were ordered by us to our house)

- Took our help to download and fill up a form in English to get their son/daughter moved from govt school to a better (private) school

- Took a loan from me by asking me to purchase her husband a ~20k mobile phone; the selection choice was basis what I had back then (OP6)

- (not 100% sure of this) Hinted to us several times that they had a small flat somewhere in the far-away suburbs of Mumbai which was on rent, but they wanted to live in the city (for obvious reasons)

- At several times, their kids would come to our house and study while the mom worked (atleast in principle; they eventually ended up playing with our cats)

Fact of the matter - while they were living in the present setup, their plans/vision for their kids was way way ahead. And they have been using every trick in the book to make sure they achieve that, something a lot of us don't do it so diligently.

[Simple_car]

To the OP,

I am listing 3 different scenarios, and what people are following:

1. Followed by multiple flats in our small society
Families have kept live-in maids, who stay with them 24 hrs.

2. For my grandparents who are senile and frail:
We live separately, and it is not possible for them to look after themselves anymore, without the help of a maid. So, their current maid is coming regularly from her home to do the chores.

3. In homes of a few known acquaintances:
They are now allowing maids/servants only if they belong to certain areas which are not hotspots/containment zones.

In all the 3 above-mentioned scenarios, no extra special precautions are being followed such as sanitizing the hands/frequent surface cleaning/masks etc which have been mentioned in the thread, earlier.

Till now, no symptoms are shown by any of the individuals (including the maids). I will keep you updated if any of them turn out positive.

For myself, I have decided not to allow any maids for at least one more month. I have decided to slog it out. However, I will be buying some gadgets as soon as this lockdown is relaxed (or when the international flights will resume; as most of them are imported items).

Regards,
Simple_car

[AMG Power]

Originally Posted by Samurai

I'll say... our cook's daughter is preparing for IAS exam, while studying in a premier college (St.Joseph's) in Bangalore. In 10 years she could be the DC of my district.

My live-in man friday's son has bought a new Maruti Swift. My colleague's driver's daughter has joined Accenture after completing her engineering.

[vivek95]

Originally Posted by v1p3r

. In Bangalore,. 20 years ago, domestic help was Kannada, Tamil and Telugu speaking. Today, the workforce in this strata is.. Odia

.

Just out of curiosity, domestic help in Mumbai is still "Marathi" right ?? Pardon my ignorance .

[MegaWhat]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

...They see themselves and their future very differently than how we see them...

Well said sir. I've noticed that as well and have been inspired with the resilience and ambition that our house help has shown numerous times.

Coming to COVID, our maid has been ahead of the curve there as well. She ensured that they did not travel back to their village unless necessary. Only kids and elders were sent off to the village, that too 3 weeks prior to the first lockdown. She and her husband stayed back for another 2 weeks to gauge the situation. That was when she reduced the number of houses she used to go to. A week before the first lockdown was when she went back to her village to take care of the elders. She's cooped up there since then and has asked us to let her know when it would be sustainable to come back. We've asked her to stay back for now. Salary paid of course, and she hasn't been coming to our house since 2 weeks prior to the first lockdown.

It's hard to come across that level of understanding even in some educated folks when it comes to handling this illness.

[AZT]

Originally Posted by vivek95

Just out of curiosity, domestic help in Mumbai is still "Marathi" right ?? Pardon my ignorance .

The 24 hour live in maids are mainly from Jharkand and around. The maids who work at multiple houses and come to wash vessels, clean the house etc are mainly Marathi.

[v1p3r]

Originally Posted by vivek95

Just out of curiosity, domestic help in Mumbai is still "Marathi" right ?? Pardon my ignorance .

Continuing off topic...

I am unsure, not having a large enough sample set. Our help in Mumbai is Konkani and Marathi speaking. But all our security folk are non-Marathi speaking.