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To Utopia and back
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"I would never come back here," thought Prachi.
It was the most beautiful house she had ever set her foot in. But the lady of the house had turned it into a hell hole. At least for the servants who worked for her. Prachi's mother Hema was one of those unfortunate souls.
And it was because of Hema that Prachi was here today, experiencing the worst day of her eighteen year old life.
Hema had been working as a daytime maid in this house since the last two years. Her husband worked as a gardener. Like so many other labour class folks, this couple too had decided that their children would have a better life than what they had. Their elder son was pursuing a diploma in engineering and the younger daughter Prachi was in the first year of junior college. The children helped in the household work but they were never asked to work outside to earn money. "Concentrate on your studies. I don't want you to wash dishes and clean bathrooms in other people's houses," Hema would often say.
That is why she hesitated when she had to ask her daughter for help.
But then there was no other way. Her 'madam' was having a big party at her place. There were four maids including Hema in the house. But just a day before two of them fell sick and the search for a temporary help didn't yield any result. The mistress of the house, whom the servants had nicknamed 'Dragon', was furious. "I don't care how many of you are there to work. I want everything to be perfect," she had screamed.
Hema's mother was in a tight spot. She couldn't afford to leave since the Dragon paid her well. But she along with just one other woman couldn't take care of so many guests. Although most of the food was ordered from outside, there was much to do. As a last resort she asked Prachi if she could come and help her for a day.
Prachi was more than ready. It was not everyday that she got a chance to extend a helping hand to her poor overworked mom. And then there was another attraction too. She wanted to see the rich party.
But now here she was all tired and disillusioned after seeing the last guest depart.
"Thank God, the day is almost over," Prachi thought, washing the last dish. What a fool she was to assume that it was going to be a very exciting and wonderful day.
"I know you are tired. But just a few minutes more and we will be through," Hema looked at her daughter and smiled apologetically.
"Oh, I am okay. It's you who did most of the work." Prachi tried to look cheerful. Actually she was feeling sorry for her mother who had to face the Dragon daily. She failed to understand how her mother could cope up with a woman who treated her servants as if they were not human beings but stray dogs. The woman terrorised her staff, didn't let them have a single moment of peace and found fault with everything. She even targeted Prachi whom she had seen for the first time.
"Don't think that you have come here to have fun and food in a party. You may be wearing fancy clothes but I don't want you acting fresh in front of people. Your duty is in the kitchen and come out only when I call....."
Prachi tried to follow all the orders, even when she felt like strangling the horrible woman. The Dragon kept her on her toes throughout the evening. Prachi was busy racing between the kitchen and living room throughout the evening. She had never in her life heard so many orders and insults. She almost cried when one of the Dragon's friends was nasty to her. "Hey Sheila, who is this pretty young thing?" somebody inquired when she saw Prachi. Instead of Sheila, her cousin replied, "Hey, don't you know that our Sheila has now started to employ only educated smart people to clean her toilets?" there was a burst of laughter. Though seething with anger she controlled herself just for her mother.
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