Vatsala Poddar Week 7

Week – 7

Rasoi Ka Kaam/Bathroom Ka Kaam

Author Sonal Sharma depicts the true societal practices that the domestic workers go through, notably the notions of ‘purity’ and ‘pollution’ intertwined with caste and gender. She further establishes a relation between caste and class to place her arguments. She argued that the bias of the employer in segregating the prospective employees are based on hygiene and purity and not as much on the caste of the individual. This also varies if it is at home (same social space) and outside. ‘Cleanliness’ forms a major part of this distinction and they are not only the ones removing dirt but themselves a symbol of dirt and disease. ‘Dirt’ is again contested as a social construct which changes as the society views it. She has illustrated various examples wherein people from lower castes cannot enter the kitchen of the household because they are ‘impure’. She further points out that the word dirt is also a characteristic for classification of labour such as sex workers, which is degrading and condescending. For example, workers higher in the hierarchy of caste do not prefer doing work which is menial or too low for their pride,  like cleaning the bathroom, discrimination on the basis of religion still exists. What is important to note is that these disparities and biases are not only created by employers, but after decades it has become so internalised that the employees do not see the wrong in it.