Rasoi ka Kaam/Bathroom ka Kaam
This piece attempts to look at the life of women from the perspective of domestic work roles and subsequently the employer-employee relationship that is established in the process. It sets the tone to describe how exactly the relationship works out from both parties. It does so by defining and establishing a caste dynamic and talking about how the employer in most situations and contexts is assumed to be of a higher caste than his/her corresponding employee. This creates an image in our minds that the position of an employer is one of authority and power. Hygiene as a concept has been created by the people in power i.e. the employers to dismiss their employees/workers on the pretext of them being dirty or unhygienic, which is very common in the normalization of this stigma against the labour class. Further segregation happens on the basis of social standing when people from the same social strata find themselves in more closed quarters in terms of interaction, even though employers and employees do interact with each other, due to their professional relationship, their conduct accordingly has to be a bit restricted and not that intimate. This whole structure of one human being seen as lesser than the other leads to the synthesis of the ideas of 'dirt' and 'pollution'. The one who cleans the dirt, is polluted by the dirt somehow- thereby giving plenty to support the idea of various hierarchies being formed in a caste ridden society, hiding behind the pretext of hygiene.
This piece attempts to look at the life of women from the perspective of domestic work roles and subsequently the employer-employee relationship that is established in the process. It sets the tone to describe how exactly the relationship works out from both parties. It does so by defining and establishing a caste dynamic and talking about how the employer in most situations and contexts is assumed to be of a higher caste than his/her corresponding employee. This creates an image in our minds that the position of an employer is one of authority and power. Hygiene as a concept has been created by the people in power i.e. the employers to dismiss their employees/workers on the pretext of them being dirty or unhygienic, which is very common in the normalization of this stigma against the labour class. Further segregation happens on the basis of social standing when people from the same social strata find themselves in more closed quarters in terms of interaction, even though employers and employees do interact with each other, due to their professional relationship, their conduct accordingly has to be a bit restricted and not that intimate. This whole structure of one human being seen as lesser than the other leads to the synthesis of the ideas of 'dirt' and 'pollution'. The one who cleans the dirt, is polluted by the dirt somehow- thereby giving plenty to support the idea of various hierarchies being formed in a caste ridden society, hiding behind the pretext of hygiene.
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