3. Karma of Compassion

Her domestic staff simply loves working for her. And they have stuck around for quite a while. This little episode will explain just why, in these times, when helpers barely stick around for even a few months, she manages to anchor them permanently.

For all of last week her cook was really busy helping her with the renovations in the house. He would water the plants on her terrace in the scorching sun, make tea for the ten odd contractors twice a day, cook for the entire family including the meals she sent to her in-laws place, and even attend to her dog. He simply had no time to rest or even shower on some days.

At the beginning of the month she handed him his salary and sent him home to visit his family over the weekend, for a short break.
Before he left, she gifted him a cake as a gesture of her infinite gratitude for his dedicated service & help. While he was gone, she went to his room, removed his bed linen, bed cover, duvet protection and washed them all along with the clothes he had left hanging. She removed everything from his shelves and folded them nicely, arranged his medicines in a plastic box and gathered all his papers in one place.

Before he reported back on duty, she made his bed, aired his room and left home before he arrived. He was so overwhelmed on his return that he struggled to find the words to express himself. She broke his silence with a gentle smile and asked about his family’s welfare. In broken English he said, “Madam, my family very happy and me also very happy”, and she replied “Me too very happy…for you, for your family, for all of us.”

Her thoughtfulness and compassion really inspires me. It is so wonderful to serve those whose service is invaluable to our day-to-day life. Unfortunately, we often take their help so for granted. Small gestures can often have a big impact. Let us choose to be mindful of the needs of those who serve us. Let us #careforkarma. Let us care for our domestic staff because they invest their whole lives serving & taking care of us. Without their support we feel so helpless & stranded. And because we #careforkarma, we care to be more sensitive and loving to our domestic helpers, more than we already are, from this day.