Characters on one side of the tug-of-war

1. Anu: My cook and all-time favorite. I am openly partial towards her. She has been serving my family decent meals for over two years now. She is clean, intelligent and my eyes into the bai world. Parimala (previous posting) is Anu's newly married sister-in-law. They share a hot-cold
relationship. I pay Anu Rs.1000 per month.

2. Priya: Cleans clothes and washes dishes. Priya does not like to work. She plans to get married in May but will stop working by March (in another 4 months). Priya gets Rs.450 per month from my ousehold.

3. Kala: A new replacement for Parimala. It's just been two days since she started working. For these two days, she has been slow but clean. Her salary needs to be determined. I will probably pay her Rs. 500 per month.

4. Basavaraju: Cleans the car. I see him only on Sundays when he comes to collect his salary or the keys to clean the car from inside. He is business-like. He is paid Rs.500 per month.

5. Phoolwali: Brings flowers everyday to be offered to the God. She is old and has the best (paan stained) smile in the world. Seeing her in the morning brightens my day. She has four or five daughters. I keep forgetting her name. She earns Rs.120 per month from my household.

6. Presswala: Irons/washes clothes. He (or his wife) come every Saturday to collect clothes for ironing and then deliver it after a few hours. He seems sincere and honest. His wife a little wanting. I don't remember their names. From my household, they typically earn about from Rs. 350-500 per month depending on the number of clothes.

7. Cablewala: Provides us cable television connection. I interact with him once a month when he comes to collect the service fee. His cell phone is turned off when we get interrupted/no cable service. He charges Rs. 240 per month.

8. Newspaper: Brings two newspapers one weekdays-Times of India and Economic Times. On weekends he is to get only Times of India and two magazines-Outlook and Business India. Things any times get mixed up. He is a pleasant young man. I pay him in the vicinity of Rs. 240.

9. Safa/Supriya/Shaner store: These are small stores who deliver grocery at my door. They are polite and deliver even small quantities. I prefer them to bigger stores. My favorite was Shaner store. They closed shop recently. I feel sad. I pay in the range of Rs. 30 - Rs.2000 per visit depending on the goods ordered.

10. Doodhwala: Brings milk packets every morning. I see him every two-three months when he sells milk coupons. He has a flawless service track record. I pay him close to about Rs. 500 per month.

For simplicity, this blog primarily focuses on those ladies who work/will work inside my house.