TELL THE CROCODILE: HER BACK IS SO SMOOTH... SO NICE













“Crippled things are always more beautiful…
It's the flaw that brings out beauty.”

― Holly Black, Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale

One of the biggest sources of stress for a householder woman is: Maid Management. Man, though takes this stress indirectly on his head, it is she who deals with this problem called – Maid Management – directly on a daily basis.

My wife and I are not spared from this problem and its consequence: stress. They don’t stick… They make fuss… They are unseasonable in their demands… They don’t turn up on the day we need them the most… They speak rudely… They get influenced by other maids… Their work is shoddy… They are ‘kaam-chors’… They are not dependable and trustworthy… They should know who is their ‘Boss’… and etc., etc…

“Don’t look for perfections,” advised Bhadekar madam, one of the elderly members in our society and one who has vast experience in this management stream: Maid Management. Every day on concluding our morning walk, my wife sits down to chat with Bhadekar madam and they chat on issues ranging from maid to saas-bahu from note-bandi to nuclear war… I feel very happy when my wife gets rejuvenated after her morning dose from Bhadekar madam every day. She was telling her this morning when my wife was trying to reduce her maid-related stress, “Look, ignore their flaws… Just adjust and get your work done… If you haven’t found a ‘perfect maid’ for twenty-five years since you married, believe me, you won’t find one for rest of your life.”

I loved two examples which Bhadekar madam gave to my wife. “When you buy a buffalo, if you want everything as you please – the perfect horns, the perfect black, the perfect amount of milk, even the perfect grunt… my dear girl, you will only get a perfect kick from the buffalo. Just caress her back and tell her, “You are the best buffalo I have ever had!”

And the second example was even more colorful: “Gently caress the crocodile’s back and sing… “So smooth… So nice!”

I don’t know about my wife… but, my stress dropped completely, even before the Sun came out in the East. Why maid, Colleen Hoover has advised us to say this to all in our life:
“This thing about you that you think is your flaw –
it's the reason I'm falling in love with you.” 

I only want to make one correction to Colleen’s statement: “That I think is your flaw…”

GERALD D’CUNHA

Pic.: The Flying Tortoise: Kintsugi (Internet source)


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