Domestic Help-Part 1

I am pretty sure if you have read my earlier posts, you must be eagerly looking out for this one.
So here I go.

If you live in an apartment complex, it is quite easy to have a number of maids as options. And options are always good. But this one is an exception. Being North Indians, we needed a maid who spoke fluent english if not hindi.
We asked the guards and the apartment office to send us hindi/ english speaking maids.
And we had about 8 choices. The worst part was that they all came with different quotes for the same amount of work. Range Rs.1000-2200. Now that was very confusing and over whelming as this was the first time in my life that I was hiring a maid.

I liked one. She looked like a newly wed. Nice saree, 1 gold set and a heavy mangalsutra, big earrings, long nails with different shades for every finger(I noticed this one later), about 3 rings in each hand, bun with flowers and some local but strong deo fragrance.
"At least she looks clean and pleasant and has a cell phone too", I told myself. She had asked for Rs.1200 for Scrubbing utensils, Cleaning of a duplex apartment and 3 bathrooms. Bangalore is pricey!
So she started working. As soon as she used to enter the house, her cell phone would start ringing and she attended to every call. She spoke non-stop over the phone and the quality work kept deteriorating by the day. So after 26 days, I had to bid adieu to her as she wanted to go for a 7 days vacation for her niece's wedding. And she gave me no substitutes also. Also, she used to show up for work and then disappear without saying anything and not to be seen till the next day. She also took Rs.700 advance from me telling me that she has an autistic child. I know that was stupid of me. But Hello! I had just R2I-ed and had very high morals and the urge to help the needy because in US, needy is usually really needy.
The bad part was that our stuff had come before I fired her and I gave her a lot of stuff which we did not need then.
Believe me, this woman gave me a horrible time during the 26 days she worked for us. She even used to come to other houses to work and skip mine. She might have done the same to others also.

However, This time I decided to have 2 maids so that all the work doesn't fall on me in worst case scenario.
Life is comfortable since then as I have learnt to zip my mouth, ignore, tolerate, and do things my way over the weekends.
The problem with maids are:
1) Advance- Asking for it all the time and the amount may range from Rs. 50 - Rs. 10,000.
2) They cannot do what they are supposed to do- which is cleaning. Utensils are not clean, house is not clean. So you pay them to wash your utensils with water(and still the soap and scotch brites keep disappearing like tigers) and the brooming is like playing hockey match. Mopping the floor is comparable to spreading butter on your toast while you are trying to lose weight.
3) They need 4 holidays every month. It could be every sunday or 4 together.
4) Attitude- There is no dearth of work for them in apartment complexes, so they don't care
5) It is extremely difficult to find a reliable/honest person

Now, one of my maids is reliable but she has to go to Chennai every month for 4 days to her children. If I start working, I cannot take 4 days off every month from work.
Even if I leave my daughter to a daycare, I need someone to be at home in case I get late or to feed her if need arises.

I am not saying that women don't work here, but if children are your utmost priority and career taking backseat is an option for you then be prepared.
Going back to work is not easy unless you are too determined or unless you have family to fall back on.

Also, the better the apartment complex, the higher the charges.