This morning I visited my neighbourhood beauty parlour for my routine basic beauty treatment. The pretty young 17- something who attended to me had an expression that somehow caused me concern and made me start up a chat with her. 45 minutes later, having got more than I bargained for, I left the parlour quite distressed.
She comes, as all others in that parlour do, from the Northeast, Darjeeling to be precise. The owner is also originally from there who regularly makes trips to bring back fresh faces. The parents of these young girls are only too happy to let their daughters into her 'care' as the salary seems good, with full board thrown in, and the added security of 'staying' in her own house with other workers from the parlour. The parents are told that the girl has to work a minimum of one year, and her travel costs will be taken care of.
Bright eyed, curious and excited to be in a big city, these girls come down and initially are quite comforted by the camaraderie, the commune- like -accommodation and the swank interiors of the parlour, which is in the same premises as their 'home'. New uniforms add to their feelings of self respect, and the fact that they can experiment with hairstyles, makeup and nail polishes is usually sufficient to get by for the first few months.
But, slowly the reality seeps in. Nobody is allowed to leave the parlour - for anything. Any shopping for personal needs is done by the 'madam' and the girls cant go out for a movie, an ice cream, a visit to the temple, or even just a day off to view this big city that they came to see from so far away.
'What!!?', I asked, 'No weekly off ?' .... No. Came the muted reply. No, never. Not allowed to go for a bhel-puri, or to buy a pair of chappals, or walk to the store to get mobile recharge! In any case, She tells me- they have no money as they are not paid, except the tips they make, probably as insurance against their escape. 365 days a year, and unless she has a raging fever- 9 am to 8pm at the parlour, going back to 2 rooms behind the parlour that double up as a kitchen and sleeping area, with a TV for entertainment, if anyone has the energy at all , to watch after a back-breaking day. Classic case of bonded labour.
'Why don't you tell your madam and leave?' I ask while my blood boils at this injustice and makes me want to report the owner to the cops. Well for one, she tells me filing my nails, there is no money unless the full year is completed. And after that, the Catch - which wasn't mentioned to the parents, which is that if they leave before 2 years are completed, they have to pay her 'fees' for training them to be beauticians! So they risk losing a good chunk of their 'future dowry'. Somehow they struggle to complete their time in this jail which at least earns them something.....compared to the poverty back home, and they yearn to feel the sun on their pretty faces, or even walk freely in the parks right round the corner of the parlour.
So, what is it that draws hundreds of such girls to leave their homes, [ many of their towns are already growing economically at least in terms of tourism], and come so far out to a country they know nothing of- for all purposes they are 'foreigners'- used to being called 'Nepali' or 'Chinky' by a population largely ignorant of their origins; live in confinement, without time off, toiling for 11 hours each day, busy in their jobs of making their customers look beautiful, and growing pale themselves under the harsh tube lights of their prison? Is it the lucre? Is it the adventure? Is it an escape from a boring home.....
I wonder then, how different are these girls from the millions of techies who leave India to work abroad. Are their lives any better? Mind you, I am not talking here of the lucky few who manage to get their American Dream realised in a few short years, but of the majority who struggle in similar situations for decades, working 7 days a week, with no insurance, sometimes a bare status/visa, sharing a pokey apartment with several other fellow countrymen, paying off the loans their parents took to send them off in the first place, and striving to have a semblance of a dream life [ by frequenting Dollar stores and buying cheap gifts for people back home!] What is the motivator to leave the comfort of your family, your own country [ again, I am not advocating that India is the nicest place to live in, not by a mile! ] where you are free to savour a weekend, a holiday, a few hours off to do the things that you want to do; and go thousands of miles away and be a prisoner - albeit in a gilt ed cage?
She comes, as all others in that parlour do, from the Northeast, Darjeeling to be precise. The owner is also originally from there who regularly makes trips to bring back fresh faces. The parents of these young girls are only too happy to let their daughters into her 'care' as the salary seems good, with full board thrown in, and the added security of 'staying' in her own house with other workers from the parlour. The parents are told that the girl has to work a minimum of one year, and her travel costs will be taken care of.
Bright eyed, curious and excited to be in a big city, these girls come down and initially are quite comforted by the camaraderie, the commune- like -accommodation and the swank interiors of the parlour, which is in the same premises as their 'home'. New uniforms add to their feelings of self respect, and the fact that they can experiment with hairstyles, makeup and nail polishes is usually sufficient to get by for the first few months.
But, slowly the reality seeps in. Nobody is allowed to leave the parlour - for anything. Any shopping for personal needs is done by the 'madam' and the girls cant go out for a movie, an ice cream, a visit to the temple, or even just a day off to view this big city that they came to see from so far away.
'What!!?', I asked, 'No weekly off ?' .... No. Came the muted reply. No, never. Not allowed to go for a bhel-puri, or to buy a pair of chappals, or walk to the store to get mobile recharge! In any case, She tells me- they have no money as they are not paid, except the tips they make, probably as insurance against their escape. 365 days a year, and unless she has a raging fever- 9 am to 8pm at the parlour, going back to 2 rooms behind the parlour that double up as a kitchen and sleeping area, with a TV for entertainment, if anyone has the energy at all , to watch after a back-breaking day. Classic case of bonded labour.
'Why don't you tell your madam and leave?' I ask while my blood boils at this injustice and makes me want to report the owner to the cops. Well for one, she tells me filing my nails, there is no money unless the full year is completed. And after that, the Catch - which wasn't mentioned to the parents, which is that if they leave before 2 years are completed, they have to pay her 'fees' for training them to be beauticians! So they risk losing a good chunk of their 'future dowry'. Somehow they struggle to complete their time in this jail which at least earns them something.....compared to the poverty back home, and they yearn to feel the sun on their pretty faces, or even walk freely in the parks right round the corner of the parlour.
So, what is it that draws hundreds of such girls to leave their homes, [ many of their towns are already growing economically at least in terms of tourism], and come so far out to a country they know nothing of- for all purposes they are 'foreigners'- used to being called 'Nepali' or 'Chinky' by a population largely ignorant of their origins; live in confinement, without time off, toiling for 11 hours each day, busy in their jobs of making their customers look beautiful, and growing pale themselves under the harsh tube lights of their prison? Is it the lucre? Is it the adventure? Is it an escape from a boring home.....
I wonder then, how different are these girls from the millions of techies who leave India to work abroad. Are their lives any better? Mind you, I am not talking here of the lucky few who manage to get their American Dream realised in a few short years, but of the majority who struggle in similar situations for decades, working 7 days a week, with no insurance, sometimes a bare status/visa, sharing a pokey apartment with several other fellow countrymen, paying off the loans their parents took to send them off in the first place, and striving to have a semblance of a dream life [ by frequenting Dollar stores and buying cheap gifts for people back home!] What is the motivator to leave the comfort of your family, your own country [ again, I am not advocating that India is the nicest place to live in, not by a mile! ] where you are free to savour a weekend, a holiday, a few hours off to do the things that you want to do; and go thousands of miles away and be a prisoner - albeit in a gilt ed cage?
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