WOH#1was a brand new import by her younger sisters to this city of angels!
She had a unique untamed-countryside charm — fair and clear skin, dark hair, healthily plump and absolutely no word of english !!
“ Bhabhi, ye meri behen hai .. bahut achhi hai .. abhi abhi aayi hai Burma se .. kabhi kaam nahi kiya kisi ke ghar.. magar aap seekha doge to seekh jaayegi …“
“Hindi aati hai kya inhe?”
“Thora thora aata hai .. jyada nahi .. Wo humare Burma me hindi picture dekhi hai na isliye .. thora Thora aata hai”
“ Achhaa! khana banana aata hai?”
“Thora thora aata hai”
“Roti banate ho?”
“ thori banayi hai 1–2 baar”
“Ohhh”
“ Bhabhi, aise to kahi kaam nahi kiya hai meri didi ne magar bachhe to hai na inka .. achha poora parivar hai .. to Khaana to banati thi .. sab karna aata hai .. bass Indian Khaana aap bata dena.. Yaha nayi hai na”
“ ok .. par jaldi seekh jaenge ?”
“ Haan Bhabhi”
“Ok .. thik hai kabse aa sakte ho? Aaj aa jao shaam tak?”
Look at me .. not ready to waste a single day !!
“akele nahi jaati didi kahi abhi tak .. to hum me se kisi ko ana padega for chhodne .. to inko abhi yehi chhod dete hai .. hum samaan lake de denge baad me“
“Ohh okk .. thik hai”
And yay!! Not a single minute wasted ..
Interviewing a potential WOH is like a blind date .. Same level of excitement and similar outcomes — after a couple of more dates… either love or breakup !! And the cycle repeats..
Her next-to-my-kitchen room was the den she was hiding in when I came in to ask for 2 cups of tea on the lazy Saturday afternoon ..
“ Chai bana doge?”
“ Chai?”
“ Chai aati hai banana .. Indian Chai?”
“Thora Thora”
“Ok aap neeche se Chai ka pot nikal do main batati hu…. nahi .. woh wala .. haaan … fridge me Doodh hai.. 2 cup doodh rakh do gas pe .. main aati hu”
And I came back to “ Aap Thora gas chalu karna bata do”
###?????### really? Okay
I dint know the “untamed countryside” was next to my living room !
And once after I showed her how to turn the gas ON … I now found the untamed-countryside‘s face almost next to the blue flame!
“ Suno ruko .. main bana dungi”
My chai, biscuits, afternoon everything flashed her ‘Thora Thora’ .. and so did my composure !
Phewwwww .. I stormed into my bedroom .. only to come out calm for dinner !
“Aata laga sakte ho?”
And you know her answer !!
“Hello .. aapki didi ka samaan dene aane waale ho na aap… ek kaam karo .. aap aajao .. aapki didi ko thora le jaao .. unko thora kuchh seekha do .. kyunki main thora working hu to mere paas unko seekhane ka thora thora hi time hai .. to main na thora koi aur dekh lungi jise thora thora se jyada aata ho !!”
Wait .. this was just a breakup okay … few minutes after this Woh and her sister left .. I get a call..
“ Kya Bhabhi , meri didi ko aapne paise nahi diye .. unhone ek din poora kaam kiya na aapke ghar .. aapko dena chahiye na!!”
“ Ohh yes … sorry .. main thora bhool gayi dena .. aap abhi aake le jaao “!
And that was the closure !!
WOH#2
“Bhabhi, Wo to abhi abhi aayi hai 3–4 saal pehle .. main to bahut saal se kaam kar rahi hu Bangkok me”
“Haan lekin kaam to utana hi karna hai na..”
This was a substitute WOH, supposedly for a month, to cover during my relatively permanent WOH’s visit home in Burma — or atleast that’s what she said, after a couple of days probably realising how indispensable she (or for that matter any WOH) is in my life.
“Meri to XXXX se baat hui thi .. usne aapko bheja hai na uske badle kaam karne .. to main to utana hi dungi jitna usko deti thi”
“lekin Bhabhi mujhe to bahut saal ho gaye na Yaha .. mujhe to isase jyada paise milte the pehle ke kaam me”
“Par mujhe to usne aisa kuchh nahi bola..”
Looked like this was a serious Lack of awareness about the WOH-seniority paradigm on my behalf!
“Ye to dekho na Bhabhi …. usne to sirf breakfast aur dinner ka bola tha … ab to mujhe lunch bhi banana pad raha hai…”
Yes , she was going way out of her JD and her busy schedule (of resting) during the day to cook lunch for my parents who were on a short visit to Bangkok!
“ aur aapne bhi bola tha lunch nahi banana padta hai .. mera kaam to badh gaya na”
I was actually glad at-least someone had taken my words sincerely !!
Well .. she was really good at what she did!
Her extensive job experience gave her enough confidence and energy to work independently and she had picked up things on the go pretty quickly !
Inspite of a just-2-hour-KT, as is always the case with every out-going WOH even with an extended notice period, her on-boarding was a cake walk for us!
“ Abhi to aaye ho .. thode Din dekhate hai aapka kaam, fir baat karte hai”
We were actually glad to have someone just in time for the festivities! And her on-job training for the first couple of days was really promising !!
But as we celebrated the 2nd trimester of the 9 auspicious days — her worship for Lakshmi was evident !
Either she had multiple similar coloured lungi n t-shirt combos or she was too lazy to change .. I always found her look exactly the same every day — in a dusty lower and a black top , hair rolled and clutched up with loose ends hanging out on a non-curvy face — yes no curves at all .. not even a smile!!
“ Bhabhi , mujhe to doosra kaam mil jayega jyada paise wala .. to hai na aap koi aur dekh lo ..”
“ Suno parso Dussehra hai .. Uske baad baat karte hai “
“ Bhabhi .. Dussehre ki to chutti hoti hai na ..”
“ kyu Thailand me kaisi chutti?”
“ nahi Bhabhi main to har saal karti hu .. mujhe to jaana hota hai na .. bhai ka teeka karna hota hai .. humara bada tyohar hai”
“Haan to lunch banake chale jaana”
Emotional intelligence was not her forte and it started showing up in our lunches and dinners 😆
Festivals are celebrated best with family friends and so was going to be our Dussehra the next day until she interrupted my happy place ..
“Bhabhi aap to mera hisab kar do .. mujhe nahi karna Yaha kaam … dussehre ki chutti b nahi de rahe aap to .. upar se itana kaam karna padta hai .. paise b itane kam hai ..”
Our Navratri was over .. And on the Dussehra day .. this Devi too left!
Comments
Post a Comment