Sometimes its about crossing the line

I am an Indian who had just delivered a baby in USA. There was no way I could manage the cooking in house with this little one, an elder one and a full-time job. I needed to look for a cook.

I went ahead and placed an advertisement online. There were not many who called. No one it seems wanted to come for an hour every other day. I was about to give up on the search and my anxiety levels were increasing. I posted the advertisement again.

This time I got a call from a lady, who, on phone seemed a little nervous and unsure. She sounded, like she had gathered the courage to make this call.  I asked her to come over and meet me, so she can see the house and we can physically meet.

Se came the next day with her husband and son. While the husband worked in an IT firm, just like me, Taani – the lady, could not work, since she did not have a visa to support her.

She joined me and was a great help. About two months down, we were good friends. Every now and then we talked about our kids, pregnancy struggles and shopping discounts. I grew really fond of her very quickly. What a genuine lady, I often thought.

I just hired a lady to help me cook in US. One day, she casually mentioned,” I am not sure what took me so long to come out and start earning myself. I wish I had done this earlier. Maybe it was my inhibitions, ingrained in my mind through the bring up I had in a small town in India, that I could not imagine myself, going out and work in another house, even though it was money earned with hard work and dignity.”

She runs her own cooking business now!  Last I met her, she was brimming with confidence and shine on her face.