Sejal Choudhary Week 7

Of Rasoi Ka Kaam/ Bathroom Ka Kaam

-       Sonal Sharma

In the article – “Of Rasoi Ka Kaam/ Bathroom Ka Kaam”, the author Sonal Sharma focuses on the domestic sector of the Indian Society. She primarily talks about ‘purity’ and ‘pollution’ and the way in which they have influenced households, the domestic workers of our society. What the author tries to argue in her piece is the manner in which the relationship between employers and employees, of the domestic sector are strongly influenced by class and caste. These employers segregate work and the employees on the basis of ‘hygiene’ and ‘dirt’ which in itself is a reason leading to the creation of these social classes.

The author has based her observation in Delhi to depict how such domestic spheres function. She illustrates one such perspective of these domestic employers wherein the work which involves dealing with ‘dirt’ belongs to the lower classes, therefore the workers are selected on the basis of the class group they belong to. Sharma talks about how such perspectives lead to discrimination at workplace of basis on class and caste, wherein the work and position of a domestic worker is decided by them only and the class they belong to and such class is defined by the notion of ‘pure’ and ‘polluted’.