The case of the missing maids

Malaika Arora and Arbaaz Khan aren't the only ones having to bear the brunt of a disappearing maid.u00a0 Bangaloreans who've been there (many times!) have come to realise that having the same maid for a whole year these days is a bit like a Hollywood marriage

Off with Romeo, but now nowhere to be seen
Our maid was good but was often absent as she was an alcoholic. Her daughter often filled in for her.

For good reason, we decided that the daughter would be a better maid and took her on full-time. One day, however, she just disappeared. At the same time, a local Romeo also disappeared and as obvious as it was, connections were made. The Romeo, however, returned in a week and said he had nothing to do with her disappearance. We still don't know where she is, but we sure would like to have her back.
Shyam Gideon; event manager

Bad news, good news?
Sometimes, maids can get so close to you that they often influence our daily lives. Our maid used to work in more than one place, and one day, after a prolonged absence, she came home with her mother in a bad condition. Her mother told us another employer had raped her and that she was in a bad shape. We tried helping her, but within a week she was gone. The next thing we heard was that she was married. We hope she's fine whomever she's with.
Sandeep Mageshwara, student

'She's possessed'
I have been very unfortunate with maids. They would leave me for the usual reasons getting married or a higher pay. But I also had a bizarre experience once.

My relative's maid found a maid for me and she was very good at her work. One day, my relative's maid came and told me that my maid was possessed! When I asked her what happened, she told me that she had invited my maid for a prayer meeting, and during the prayer, my maid began acting like she was possessed.

I didn't know how to react. What made it worse was that this relative's maid would keep giving me tidbits of information that only made the situation more uncomfortable. She told me that if she ever yawns really loudly, it meant the spirit was getting back into action.

One day, that actually happened and I was terrified beyond my wits. I left the house immediately. Like fate had seen reason, she went back home that week and for some unknown reason, never returned. I hope she is well and would love to have her back.
Catherine Srinivasan (name changed); homemaker

Too late
One day, my maid walked up to me and said she wanted to quit. We hadn't had problems till then and so I was relatively surprised. When I asked her what was wrong, she told me that the previous company that she worked for had said that they wouldn't settle her provident fund unless she joined them again. I had to let her go, as her priorities seemed justified. This happened recently and I have been in touch with her ever since. She called me a few days back to tell me that they did not give her a job. But now I already have another maid!
Rachel Ravichandran (name changed); freelance journalist

Called me a servant?
We had this maid who worked for us for about a year. We treated her really well, but then one day she decided not to turn up. When we enquired about why she had decided to do such thing, she told us that my mother had called her a 'servant' and that irked her. As much as that seems like the most unconvincing of reasons, we decided to leave it at that.
Nimith Vasanthan; financial consultant