Next to the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationship, the most difficult one is between the worker (servant) and the owner (master). To resolve the tension and to keep it to a minimum level, we have to keep in mind that no worker is going to work up to our expectation. Even if they do their best, still we are not going to be satisfied with their work. All our expectations about a relatively perfect worker doing the work to our expectation and satisfaction is nothing but idealism. And we have always to keep one important fact in our mind that the workers come to work to earn and not to ‘serve’ us. So, naturally they always expect something ‘extra’ apart from what we agree to pay. And whenever they do the work, this ‘extra’ (food, money etc.) will always be in their mind. When they don’t get it (even day to day life) then they too are not going to be satisfied with what all we (think generously) are giving. We always think that we give more than what we agreed for and they always think that they work more than what they accepted to do or deserved the remuneration that we give.
So the best way to resolve the tension is to keep in mind that ‘that’s all they can do and rest we have to do for our personal satisfaction’. However, as I often say, ‘I never expect anyone to be faithful in doing the work for the money that I pay. But at least, I expect them not to do any damage or make me incur losses. Then when such a situation comes, we have to take some firm steps and make them understand this. In a recent incident, I asked the worker not to come until the problem is resolved. Because when he began to do damage, then I had to take firm steps. And one well-wisher, who recommended that worker for me said, ‘take him back. Without him you will suffer a lot in looking after the property.’ And in response, I said, ‘After paying him his salary and all the extra things (food, loan without interest, yearly bonus, cloths, medicine and all kind of other timely needs) if I am going to incur loss by his work, it is better for me to incur the same loss without paying anything thing to him. At least this will compensate for my loss to some extent.’ Finally, the problem was solved (for the second time)@ and he came to work, this time realizing that he should not take advantage of our generosity or the desperate need of a worker. If getting a (good) worker is a problem, the same is true about getting one (relatively good) master.
Of course, there is no uniform solution to all the problems. But we can learn from each other by sharing our experiences. I am not against the labor class as such. When I talked with one Communist local leader, he too agreed with me, that while they fight for the interest of the laborers, they never encourage them to forget their responsibility to which they have committed. I know what I share is one-sided as most of the (domestic) workers don’t have an opportunity to share their views and grievances, as they don’t have time and forum for it. (One time in Vijay TV, Sri Gopinath conducted a program between the masters and workers) To accept the reality, most of the laborers and workers suffer more than the owners. But this does not undermine the problem that remains between the two classes of people.
Dayanand Bharati, Gurukulam,February 21, 2009.
@ This I wrote in 2009. Now that man is gone, as he began to take holidays without informing me. And when I asked about it, he became upset and left the work. The interesting fact is that just before he left I gave voluntarily a loan of Rs. 5,000/- (five thousand) knowing his situation. As a joke, when I gave the loan I said, ‘next you will find some excuse to quit and may not return the loan’. For this, while eating he said, ‘I swore on the food and I will never quit without paying the loan back to you’. Now seven months are gone (he quitin June 2012) and he least bothered to come and give a reason for not returning the money back. Already he owed Rs. 2,000/- from the previous loan. Of course, this is not my experience alone, but several others faced similar situations, where servants, after receiving some loan, will quit without having any remorse. They always think that they deserve that loan even as part of their remuneration. This I write not to blame the workers or to parade how generous I am (or we), but the relationship between servants and masters always remains a love and hate one from time in memorial, at least in India.
Db. Gurukulam, January 20, 2013.
After writing the above points, I was curious to know what our ancient scriptures talk on this topic. And to my surprise our ancestors too faced similar problems. Below I will give a few from Mahabharata and Ramayana. Bharatiyar, our Tamil Poet wrote about the servants in one of his songs:
They will demand much wage, but will forgot what we gave
If they have extra work, they will stay back in their home
‘A scorpion in the pot bite me with its teeth
My wife was possessed by a devil
And it was the 12th day ceremony for my grand-mother after she passed away’
They will tell lie constantly and will do one thing than what we asked them to do
And will talk with our relatives in a lonely place
They will spread our family matter in the entire town
If we have shortage of something, then they will talk about to everywhere
I suffered a lot because of the servants
At the same time without servants we cannot manage on our own.
—Poems of Bharatiyar, edited and printed by Sn. Viswanatha, Chennai, Pungkodi publishers, [1998], 2001, song 4, p. 320
4. கண்ணன்–என் சேவகன்
கூலி மிகக் கேட்பார் கொடுத்த தெலாந் தாமறப்பார்;
வேலை மிக வைத்திருந்தால் வீட்டிலே தங்கிடுவார்;
ஏனடா நீ நேற்றைக் கிங்குவர வில்லை யென்றால்;
பானையிலே தேளிருந்து பல்லாற் கடித்ததென்பார்;
வீட்டிலே பெண்டாட்டி மேற்பூதம் வந்ததென்பார்; 5
பாட்டியார் செத்துவிட்ட பன்னிரண்டா நாளென்பார்;
ஓயாமற் பொய்யுரைபார்; ஒன்றுரைக்க வேறுசெய்வார்;
தாயாதியோடு தனியிடத்தே பேசிடுவார்;
உள்வீட்டுச் செய்தியெலாம் ஊரம் பலத்துரைப்பார்;
எள்வீட்டி லில்லை யென்றால் எங்கு முரசறைவார்; 10
சேவகராற் பட்ட சிரமமிக வுண்டு கண்டீர்;
சேவகரில் லாவிடிலோ செய்கை நடக்கவில்லை12 (p. 320)
பாரதியார் கவிதைகள், சீனி. விசுவநாதன், சென்னை, பூங்கொடி பதிப்பகம்,(1998), 2001, , கண்ணன் பாட்டு, 4. ப. 320
Canto C: … I trust you are not too familiar with your servants nor avoid contacts with them altogether; the middle course is the best in this matter.[Rama to Bharata] — N. Raghunathan (tr.), Srimad Valmiki Ramayana, Vighneswara Publishing House, Three Volumes Madras, 1981, Vol. I, p. 394
Servants, paid regularly, still harbour resentment; and should a wealthy man, on getting still greater wealth, give to his servant more, he would then burn as much from this as he would from fear of robbers.[Shanti-parva, 26.22]— Chaturvedi Badrinath, The Mahabharata: An Inquiry in the human condition, New Delhi, Orient Longman, 2007, p.281
34. That end that overtakes low wretches who eat sweetmeats before servants … without giving them a share of them…. [Arjuna to Yudhisthira. Arjuna took vow to kill Jayadrath and says these things] — M.N.[Manmatha Nath] Dutt, Mahabharata,Delhi, Parimala Publications, 7 vols. 1988, Drona Parva, Vol. 4. Ch. LXXIII, p.106
31. ….By dismissing a servant who is incapable of doing service, one is not visited with sin. [Vyasa to Yudhisthira]— ibid. Vol. 6. Shanti ParvaCh.XXXIII, p. 48
48. …you should never cut jokes with your servants…..49. If the master mixes too freely with them, servants begin to disregard him. They forget their own position and do not care their master. 50. Ordered to do a thing, they hesitate, and give out the master’s secrets. They ask for unbecoming things and take the food that is intended for the master. [Bhishma to Yudhisthira].— ibid. Vol. 6. Shanti Parva Ch. X. p. 79
31. Being angry, a master may deprive a servant of his office or reprove him, from rage, in harsh words, and restore him to power again. 32. None save a servant devoted to the master can stand and overlook such treatment….[Bhishma to Yudhishthira].— ibid. Vol. 6. Shanti Parva. Ch. LXXXIII. P. 125
75-77. Servants who are discontented, who have been dismissed from their offices, or who have been degraded from honorable situations, who have brought destitution upon themselves, or who have been ruined by their enemies, who have been weakened, who are rapacious, or enraged, or alarmed, or deceived, who have suffered confiscation, who are proud and willing to perform great feats but who are deprived of the means of acquiring wealth, and who burn with grief or anger for any injury done to them,–always wait for misfortunes to befall their masters. Being deceived, they forsake their masters and become powerful instruments in the hands of his enemies. [Jackal to the Tiger]— ibid. Vol. 6. Shanti Parva. Ch. CXI. P. 166
85. No servant is to be seen who always wishes to do good to his master. People work with the desire of doing good to his master as also to one’s own self. All works are undertaken from selfish desires. Unselfish works or motives are very rare. Jackal to the Tiger]— ibid. Vol. 6. Shanti Parva. Ch. CXI. P. 167
9. One should make no distinctions between his guests and servants and kinsmen in matters of food. To treat servants equally in this matter is highly spoken of. [Bhishma to Yudhishthira]. —ibid. Vol. 6. Shanti ParvaCh.CXCIII. P. 286
This entry was posted in On Life on January 25, 2013 by dayanand.
Leave a Reply