Maladies of the Middle Class Series – Chicken From The Market
Usually dad used to go to the market for groceries, vegetables, fruits, meat fish etc. After retirement, men should be given some work or they feel lost and can even become cranky and irritable! Plus he used to interfere in Mom’s cooking also sometimes … that made mom irritable! Basically mom was known for her great culinary skills so obviously when dad (in order to tease her actually) suggested some recipe tips to her she used to lose her cool!!
Things were fine till dad was alive. I had also started visiting the marketplace because dad was suffering from diabetes and it was risky to send dad to the market. So far so good.
Things began to change when dad left for his heavenly abode and mom was left bed-ridden. In order to give me a surprise, she asked the maid to bring chicken from the market. In the afternoon I came down for lunch only to find minuscule / tiny leg pieces floating in the chicken curry!
Me: gosh! I hope she has not got crow/ pigeon meat – look at the pieces mom!
Mom realized her mistake and asked me to keep my cool! Both my parents were very compassionate about the poverty-stricken section of our country…especially of our state!
Other know-all friends/ relatives added that it was our fault that we gave a poor domestic helper living hand to mouth – so much money to buy chicken. What we came to know is that there is another market place for the poverty stricken people where chicken / meat etc – the rotten ones or about to rot and fit to be thrown away – are sold!! So if 1 kg chicken is available to us @Rs. 180/- the same is available to them @ Rs. 80/-! So she basically made Rs.100/- flat by showing us her enthusiasm to buy chicken/ do shopping for us! How smart, how smart – she has made money – by hook or by crook – how does it matter huh! – the gist is she made money by cheating and that is commendable in Ghor Kaliyug!!
A round of applause for the poor maid who did right by cheating the household she worked for!
A round of rebuke for us, middle class family members, who are so dumb as to trust the poverty stricken worker class!
Disclaimer – Not all members of the worker class are cheats and thugs, not all masters are foolish and naive! It is totally your luck (fate/ destiny..omg!) that you have attracted a cheat/thug as your worker! Bad luck…bad karma…blah blah!!