Triumph Of My Mother’s Ambitions

Well, being surrounded by moms of all ages, I am beginning to understand how much children dominate the mind space of a mother. Thankfully, my mom had just me to think and worry about, although, that does not mean I was an easy child or demanded less attention.

As a child and even now, I like to create. I feel good when I create something new, something that brings me and others joy. I had many hobbies as a child and don’t even ask the amount of junk that I’ve piled up at home. My mother, who is an ardent art enthusiast, loves all forms of art and since my childhood always encouraged me to practice and learn some form of art.

She tried her level best to make me learn Odissi dance, which is one of the many, yet the most popular, dance form of Orissa. I made a fuss about every class I went to and eventually dropped out. But during my tiny little dance career, I gave quite a few performances in the local community.

My mother did not give up; she then wanted me to learn Classical singing. So I ended up learning Hindustani Classical music for around 3-4 years. I also graduated in Hindustani Classical. My music teacher had really high hopes of me, but again I dropped out because I was unable to manage 10^th board studies and music together and without practice and hard work even the most talented cannot survive.

One thing that remained constant was that I always loved painting. My mom started learning art during her free time. She joined a school to learn Patachitra.  Patachitra, “Pata” meaning cloth and “Chitra” meaning picture is a traditional form of painting of Orissa (now Odisha) originating from an inconspicuous village called Raghurajpur.

When she used to get her paintings home, I loved them and I started practicing on my own.  This was right after my 10th board exams, when I had lots of free time and no tuitions or school to attend.

The technique used for this form of painting requires expertise and devotion since a single Patachitra can take somewhere around 3 weeks to 6 months to be completed. The brush, the canvas, and even the colors used are all natural.

Just a single shop in Bhubaneshwar (my home town) sold the natural colors that are required for Patachitra somewhere near the old part of the city. The traditional basic colors used are red, ochre, indigo, green, black and white, all obtained from the natural sources like turmeric, lamp black, and shells etc.

Traditionally, the artist uses fine brushes made from the hair of a mongoose or rat or coarse brushes made from the buffalo's neck. I use brushes that are available in the market. The base is usually a wooden base coated with a cotton cloth (matha cloth) using a gum obtained from tamarind seeds (Kaitha Atha in Oriya). Traditionally, another piece of cloth is added on to it. On the top portion, a layer of soap stone powder and tamarind paste mix is applied. The canvas is now glossed by rubbing coarse grain and stones. Once the canvas dries, it is cut into desired sizes. The colors for the paint are mixed with the same gum so that they glimmer when applied to the canvas.

Dancing Ganesha - Patachitra

The themes of these paintings are usually religious and related to Hindu mythology. Most of the paintings that I’ve completed so far are based on the Mahabharata. Some depict different rupas of Gods, some are figments of my imagination.

Since the time I’ve come to Canada, I haven’t really painted a lot, but its time to start again J. In summary, my mom and her desire to tie me with art won. This art form is also an example of how nature has provided us with every little thing we need in our lives to accomplish anything; we just need to look. 

The 7 P’s of House-Maids in India

Its 6’ish in the morning, the door bell rings. You would believe, that would make the lady of the house  angry about the early morning wake up call, instead, she springs up with a smile and a sense of relief, “Aah she’s here”: “the House Maid”.

House maids have been a part of our lives forever. They are hired to do chores around the house like doing the dishes, laundry, mopping, sweeping, dusting so on and so forth. My marketing brain wants to analyze everything, find thoughtful insights and present them as interesting facts.  

Broadly they fall into the service industry. Imagine the sense of trust that they need to develop with their clients (mostly the lady of the house) that they allow them inside their house and trust them with their possessions. So let’s apply the 7P’s of service marketing to analyze how these house maids have managed to become such an important part of every household.

PRODUCT: The quality of their service is judged by various factors like: 

• Preciseness: how well they do the dishes, how well they can get out stubborn spots, how well they can get to those dingy corners and the list is endless
• Punctuality: If they are not punctual they can upset the whole household and we don’t want anyone late to work, do we?
• Trust: Since they work inside the premises of the house, it is very important that they develop trust and not indulge in petty crimes, which will later effect their ummm lets say brand image.

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PRICE: They often bundle up their services and charge according to the package. The price range is 20-30% higher in bigger cities. Let’s not get judgmental since the cost of living is also higher in bigger cities.

PLACE: There are regulated and the unregulated sectors at play here. The regulated sector includes agencies that send maids to various households. But my inquisitive mind is always after the ones that are out there for themselves. They often walk to their client’s house to work, so they choose areas and timings to match the needs of their clients and also and make sure that it is within walking distance; and that’s how they do channel management. Now days they even carry mobile phones so that they can be easily accessed by their clients.

PROMOTIONS: Well, they do not have the luxury of having fancy discounts on T.V. commercials; reporters don’t go after them to publish their success stories in newspapers. They use “Networking”, to get those jobs and do their advertising for them. Word of mouth is what helps them to fill the need gaps.

PEOPLE: They do not have any assistants for back-up, but again their network comes handy when they need a little back-up. Their motivation for working is mostly the end of the month salary, the bonuses during festivals, some used-up sarees or old unused articles around the house. They blend in to the family and in most families they become part of the family by their dedication and commitment.

PHYSICAL EVIDENCE: You will usually find them dressed in a neat cotton saree (Indian Garment), or sometimes little fancier ones that they get from generous clients. They maintain a clean and hygienic look as in some houses they even cook meals.

PROCESS: They customize their activities according to their client’s needs. The best example of process flexibility tailored to client requirements. Their work processes are most of the time defined by their clients.

Well, keeping the 7 P’s aside, house maids in India are a legacy, not only do they help around in the household chores, they are often the stress busters for housewives to vent out their anxieties, worries and happiness too. Some of them work with families so long that they are fondly called by the children of the house as “Amma”, “Tai”, “Mausi” in the native languages. Not all of them prove their competence, not all of them provide excellent services and not to forget the amount of gossip and information they carry around. They might be aware of relationship status updates even before Facebook publishes them. J