The Perfect Match !

I decided to hire a maid as I badly wanted to find some free time at home. I called up various agencies and gave my requirement; responded to the newspaper advertisements; told my dear and near ones to let me know if they know or find a suitable ‘match’ for me.

As the search progressed I realized that maid-hunting was tougher than the recruitments that I have seen as an HR professional. Some ladies were too aged and seemed to be over-serious like a strict school principal, while some were too young and immature like an irresponsible and playful college-girl. Some asked for salaries which were higher than that of a software engineer. I had not lost my hope. The match-making progressed.

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I got a call from an agent saying that he had found an ideal person. She was ready to stay with us. She was ready to do all the household chores. Atlast! I am going to have someone who would help me have some quality time with my family. She will get me a cup of coffee when I am home in the evening. I will be relieved from cleaning up the mess created by my hyper active kid - the task which consumes most of my time. She would do miracles and would turn my kid’s dirty brown clothes into snow-white ones.

The agent’s voice broke my thoughts. “She is from Thrissur. She wants to meet you to see if she will like you. And she can’t come to Cochin. You need to go to Thrissur to meet her”. I took some time to digest the whole thing. I had to decide between a maid’s ego and my hectic life. I discussed with my husband and we decided to give a try. I asked the agent to tell her to come to the station so that we can return as soon as we are done with the ‘interview’.

We boarded a train to Thrissur. As the train neared the station we called up the agent to make sure that our interviewer would be there on time. We got down and waited near the magazine shop as instructed by the agent. And here she comes! She was in her late 50s. She wore a rose colored saree with lot of glitters and sequences. She had worn matching earrings and bangles. She had a rose bindi on her fore-head and kajal in her eyes.

“You are Sita?”

“Yes”. I said.

“Shall we sit somewhere? May be in that juice shop? I am thirsty too..” She was already heading to the juice shop before we replied.

She chose a table under a fan. We sat down opposite to her. I asked her “ What do you like to have?”

“I’ll have grape juice.” She had no doubt. I was extra-cautious not to have any expressions on my face.

The first round of questions went on with the ‘Wh’ questions like who are you? What are you? Where are you? What is your religion?

We managed it well. Then came the next round.

“Do you have a TV?” “Do you have a mixie?” “Do you have a washing machine?” “Do you have a fridge?”

This part too went on well until we reached the question for which we scored negative mark “Do you have a vacuum cleaner? ”

“No !” At that point of time we didn’t have one.

She replied “Why didn’t you buy it till now? You should buy one immediately. You will need it”.

“Ok. Will do. Anything else?” My husband asked sarcastically which she mistook for a serious query. “Nothing else, as of now. I am Ok. What about you?”

“We need to discuss. We will let you know.” I said fast as I could and got up to leave. I happily realized that it was time for the return train. We got in and found our seats. My husband sat there recollecting the exceptional experience and laughed. But I couldn’t. I knew I had to go on with the search until I found a perfect match.