ABSTRACT
I want to start this chapter by narrating an incident. As is commonplace in urban Indian homes, my household is run with the assistance of hired helpers. Recently, my 19-year-old part-time helper did not turn up for work one morning. Her mother kept a close watch on her every movement and on that day, came to report her concern that her daughter may have run away with her boyfriend. The mother was visibly distraught saying she was very worried about two issues. The first one was about the safety of her daughter, repeating her concern that all she wanted to know about the young woman was that she was safe, and the way we feel when a daughter leaves for her home after marriage, she added. When I enquired if she had filed a report in the police station, her answer was negative. She said her only son had threatened her with dire consequences since he believed that if the police came to their home, he said he would be so shamed that he threatened to take his own life. Her second worry, she declared, was a substantial decrease in the family income as the young girl used to earn well working without pause for eight hours every day as a domestic helper in different homes. The young woman’s income supported the whole family which included her parents, her brother, his wife and young daughter and a younger sister. Her father and brother did not have regular income, and did not seem inclined to work harder to get one. Subsequent to this loss of income, the mother said that she was considering the option to withdraw the younger daughter from school to take over the older sister’s work.
