Minu was my cook. To be honest, cooking doesn’t cover it completely. Caretaker and caregiver were more like it, master chef to my cats —  she came to my home and hearth, 30 years ago, to primarily cook.

Mumbai city is a city of maids, “bais”, part-timers residing in little shanties, colonies, slums, chawls — looking to work in homes that are walking distance from their residences —  these maids are on a timer, making “one or two items” per home. Over time, Minu’s part time “jobs” dried up and she came to be my “full time help”– though she went home nights, to be with her family. Minu’s smiling face always hid her burdensome back story, a relentless battle for daily survival, an everyday water tanker, “I have to get my buckets and utensils filled up in time before it moves” —  ironically ankle-deep water seemed to be her wall-to-wall discomfiture throughout the year.