At a Luxury Complex in India, the Maids and the Madams Go to War
That has changed, however, as luxury high-rises proliferated in farmlands on the outskirts of New Delhi,
and slum neighborhoods appeared beside them, in what Ms. Lahiri called “a perfect setup for an us vs. them clash.”
In the case of Harshu Sethi and her maid, Johra Bibi, in Noida on Wednesday, the clash was Alfred Hitchcock-grade,
awakening subterranean anxieties about the true relationship between the rich and the poor.
Why do they have everything?’ They envy us, and this is how it comes out.”
Ms. Bibi, the maid, had a different take on the relationship, saying Ms. Sethi had not paid her
3,500 rupees, or about $55, for the past two months, and had falsely accused her of stealing.
Though they may resent their treatment, maids are typically afraid to lose their jobs,
and of the “pull their employers may have with the authorities,” said Tripti Lahiri, the author of “Maid in India: Stories of Inequality and Opportunity Inside Our Homes.”
Conflicts between domestic workers and employers are a regular feature of Indian crime logs, but mass violence is almost unheard-of, Ms. Lahiri said.
