Oldest woman in India highlights plight of domestic workers

Despite almost a century of servitude, 111-year-old Rosa Vazhapilly receives no pension or social protections.

Rosa Vazhapilly

Thrissur:  At the age of 111, Rosa Vazhapilly does not want to be called a grandma. As someone who lived her entire life as that of an unmarried housemaid, she will respond only when addressed as Aunt Kunjannam.

Documental preparations are now underway to name this Catholic domestic servant as the oldest living woman in the country. But while the government is keen to celebrate that status, no one addresses her rights as a retired laborer. Her wrinkled face and hardened hands only hint at the travails she has faced over the decades.

Until just 15 years ago, Kunjannam worked as an unpaid servant in the sleepy village of Eranellur in southern Kerala state.

After putting in nearly 90 years of work, she retired in penury – without any pension, social security or health insurance. She has no savings and is ineligible even for a paltry state subsidy meant for widows because she was never married.

Born into a poor family, Kunjannam’s life as a domestic servant began after her parents died when she was just a child. During those days, she worked in neighbors' homes in return for food as her siblings could not support her, said her nephew Jose Vazhapilly.

Kunjannam has been living in Vazhapilly’s house since before his birth. She could not marry because Vazhapilly’s father, who shouldered the responsibilities of the family, could not afford the dowry. Today, the 67-year-old Vazhapilly represents Kunjannam’s social security, health insurance and life support.

“Her needs were limited. Her life revolved around the family where she worked,” Vazhapilly said.

To this day, India has no system of ensuring pension for such workers, and traditional feudal families rarely take care of their servants once they reach old age.

Although India passed a minimum wages act in 1948, states began to fix minimum wages and implement it only in the last decade.

Almost 90 percent of the domestic workers are not paid the monthly minimum wage of some US$100 stipulated governments, according to a study released last week by the Montfort Social Institute in Hyderabad. Ninety-one percent of the workers surveyed also said they work seven days a week.

According to federal government estimates the country has some 10 million domestic workers. But activists put the number at closed to 30-40 million.

And for many of those millions laboring for other families, their lives have changed little from Kunjannam’s nearly a century ago.

After being employed by various neighbors, Kunjannam began working for a local Hindu family when she was in her 30s. By the time she retired, she had served three generations of the same family.

Until 15 years ago, she woke up before the sun rose and walked barefoot to her feudal master's house. There, she washed dishes and clothes, cleaned rooms and courtyards and cooked food for their farm workers. She returned only late in the evening.

Without access to a salary, Kunjannam lived an exceedingly simple life. According to Vazhapilly, she has never worn footwear, traveled in a bus, nor saw a train or an airplane. Her life was enclosed within the village. Seven days a week, Kunjannam worked. On festivals, she worked extra hours to help the merriment of her master family.

Despite the hard life, both Kunjannam and her employer have defended it.

Malayathu Peethambaran a member of the family for whom Kunjannam worked insisted she was like a relative.

“We never treated her as a servant. She started working in our family during my grandfather’s time and continued to work for us till she was 96. But at that time we didn’t know she was 96,” said the 45-year old Peethambaran.

“When she was old we never allowed her to work. But she loved to come everyday to our home. In fact, she considered our house as her home,” he said. He remembered her as a caring, reliable and honest person.

Jissy George, Kunjannam’s grand-niece and a trained nurse, said her aunt is “always jovial and happy.”

Though Kunjannam has difficulty communicating these days, she does not appear to be bitter about her difficult lot in life. She smiles easily and, to many questions replies simply: “I love sweets and toffees.”

Considering her age, Kunjannam enjoys remarkable health. Blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol levels are normal. Her eyesight and hearing is perfect.

Kunjannam, for his part, credits his aunt’s resilience to her lifestyle.

“She is very disciplined woman and her life revolved around her work place and the village.”

Source: ucanews.com