Maid Woes

The maids I have had, could really fill 20 pages. Some were efficient, some lazy, some really wierd. But I am thankful to them all for helping me with the household work & child without which I might have had to quit my job long long ago.
First of course there was Shipra. She came when Sona was only 1 year old. Smiling, efficient & capable she is the one Sona till now recalls as the one she was closest to. She was with us for 4 years & I could tide over the period when Sona was so small only because of her efficient help. She was tactful too & not in the habit of doing Idhar ki baten udhar, what with my ma-in -law & mother frequently staying with us at that time. In the end she left rather suddenly. She had got a boyfriend probably & moved off to work in UAE or some place.
Next came Tuli. What a firebrand. She started quarrels soon after coming with my father in law & me as well over petty matters. Barely after 2 months of coming she caught gout and became bedridden. After recovering somewhat we sent her back to Kolkata &her son. I believe her illness was totally feigned, as in the railway station she was walking quite normally. After her came Anjali, the village lady. She was totally clueless about cooking when she came but slowly she picked up the ropes. She was extremely shy & retiring totally dictated to at home with bare bones. The food deprivation she had suffered lifelong was evident by the way she eagerly waited for mealtimes. She did not stay beyond 1 year as her husband did not allow it. After this came Amala Masi - aged bengali widow from Bangladesh. She was a good cook & inveterate talker. She would go on about the trials she suffered in b'desh when during partition they were driven out of there. Such was the condition that they used to hanker for salt to have with their rice. She was very particular about salt & always used to keep a salt cellar with her during meals. She was a great help during my ma in laws cancer treatment in 2004-05, although she was very offended by ma in laws treatment of her during end 05. After this came Shila. She was sent by my ma in law, though from the very beginning I felt she would not be suitable. She worked 10 houses in Kolkata & was so quick in her work that she would complete all my housework in barely 1 hour including cooking and then be fretful of what to do next. She could never sit still for an instant. No wonder barely one week after coming she said she could not continue as she felt 'suffocated' there. Not speaking the language of the place, missing familiar faces & routines she was at a loss. She had come so far to escape her abusive husband, but could not find any solace in the reduced work & increased salary she would get with us. She quit barely 10 days after working with us. Later on she rejoined service with my ma-in -law and her old houses. Some 2-3 years later I heard that she had committed suicide due to her husband's abuse. After this came Namita. She was extremely good cook but quite the worst temper of all the maids. Any cross talk, and she would shut herself in her room & refuse to come out even for her meals. I would then cajole or ask Ma to talk to her for things to normalize. This happened two or three times. The last time She just walked out of the house with her bags without a word. I was left shouting after her & then searching frantically at the railway station for her. In the end I found her at my neighbour's house- she had been cleverly manipulated upon by my neighbour's maid for her own nefarious reasons. Then unable to stay there very long she asked me to book her ticket to Kolkata which I thankfully did & was well rid of her.Last but not least came Sumita masi. My what an eater! She lived only to eat I believe. She was also extremely clever & wily. She made up stories about ghosts in the house & with that pretext started going to church & mosques to get rid of the 'ghosts' troubling her. Scared stiff of the spine chilling stories of her ghosts I decided that I would manage with local maids till it became absolutely essential to have a full time maid.
Hope I can pull on like this for 2 more months.