International Women’s Day is going to be celebrated on the 8th of March, a day that commemorates the achievements of all the women in various fields. Special programmes are held, malls offer discounts, there are various provisions to make the women feel remarkable on this day. Once again there are discussions about gender equality, this year the theme is #PressforProgress. In all of these celebrations expressing gratitude towards the women in our life, we tend to forget someone who we think is doing a thankless job every day- our maid! It wouldn’t be wrong to say a maid helps to hold the house together in the modern society today.

In the evolving modern societies driven by ambitious attitude doing round the clock jobs, a maid becomes a necessity. Be it in the form of a nanny, a cleaner or a cook or sometimes all in one! Modern India is definitely as a nation highly maid-dependent if we can say. From someone to cook your tiffin, keeping your clothes clean and house tidy, a maid is no less than a superwoman. She is the necessary support for your aging mother. How many times have you heard of your mother’s routine revolving on the maid’s timings? And you can see the aftereffects if the maid chooses not to come one day! Doesn’t this make her a backbone of a household? But do we bother about her needs?

A very common understanding between a maid and a household is of offering her a salary and expecting her to clean the corners spic and span! Rarely do we offer to ask them about their families and needs. A maid asking for a little extra cash on someday most of the times gets questioned. It is an economic transaction but accompanying it with a little sympathy will be more valuable than money. Not that we ask you to make them your family members and share everything, but a little respect and care never hurt. At times if the maid is unable to come, you should be accommodating than shouting at them.

A maid- cleaner, gardener, nanny, domestic help is making our lives easier and we cannot take them for granted. They deserve more respect because other than managing our houses, they also are mothers in their family. Other than reaching your house at a specific time so that your tiffin is made in time, they also have to ensure their own kids reach schools on time. While we all sing the deserved praises to our mothers, sisters, wives and partners, this year let us take a pause and respect the maid who is making your lives functional equally well.

In tune with the Press for Progress theme, how about we start from the smaller strata and help in the progress of the maids? The theme promotes growing global movement of supporting surrounding gender parity and sexism but we can adapt it to our maid's needs too. It could be something really small like not calling them as kaamwali for example? You could also encourage them to teach a few regular things of the outside world or just basic form-filling, calculations etc. They will be grateful to you! If you are someone who has been doing this already, then there are other families you need to spread this message to. Let us bring in this small change in the society and make sure your maid doesn’t feel derogatory in the work they do, but respectful about what they do!

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 06, 2018 12:53 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).