P. M. S.

We have a new maid (yes, again! AAnd I’m praying fervently that she stays!! Please, please, please God, let her stay!). She’s 36 yrs old. Just a few years older than me. But she has 4 daugters. The eldest is 20. And has a 1 yr old son.
So this lady is already a granny at 36. I find it difficult to swallow. Yes, girls are married in their early teens. And yes, they do have kids in their teens. If nature itself allows teens to procreate, who am I to say anything. But I just couldnt digest the contrast. This lady, barely 5 years older than me, is already a granny. While I just became a mother only a few months ago.
She’s willing to work 9 to 6 for Rs4000. She’d actually asked for less. And I grumble about working those same hours for much much more.
She & her husband had to leave their kids in their village near Calcutta and came quite to the opposite end of the country to earn a mere Rs4000 per month.

Sometimes my Mom laughs at me and says the same about us. That we, my generation, leave parents and families behing and go to the far corners of the world - for these high paying IT jobs. What does it come down to - more money. Slog long hours, to get more money, that you then dont have the time or energy to enjoy. She thinks 9 to 6 are ridiculously long hours. She almost faints when she hears that at times we work 12 and 14 hours a day. And she thinks its just not worth it. Sometimes, when I step back and look at our lifestyle, I agree with her - its just not worth it.