Before their eyes open { 22 images } Created 31 May 2012
“Maya and Kohinoor are like my daughters. You know I don’t have daughters so they replace them.”
Despite the fact that Maya and Kohinoor call Maizzuddin and his wife ‘mama’ and ‘mami’, the equivalent of uncle and aunt, they are not really part of the family. The three sons of the house attend school or university while Maya and Kohinoor stay home to clean, tide up, cook, and wash. They both have been working as domestic servants at Maizzuddin’s for the last year.
They are everywhere and do whatever is asked from them: bring a glass of water, prepare and check Tanzin’s schoolbag, massage Tonmoy’s head … Their names can be heard throughout the day according to the work to be done. They seldom go out and in any case, rarely alone.
Before moving to Maizzuddin’s, they use to go to school. Now the only class attended by Kohinoor is the ‘religion class’, twice a week. Being Hindu, Maya does not attend.
Maya and Kohinoor belong to the crowd of young domestic servants which number, in Bangladesh, does not decrease. Most of these children come from poor rural families who hope, by entrusting their daughter to an urban family, to increase their revenues and to create a relationship, which could turn out to be useful in the future. Maizzuddin gives 1,000 Takas monthly to each family.
Parents also consider that it is a good way to prepare their daughters to the work they will have to perform as housewife, which they will all become, sooner or later.
For Maizzuddin, it is a question of ‘prestige’. To employ domestic servants contributes to improve his status. It is like having a fridge or a television.
In the evening, after doing the dishes, the girls deploy their mattresses on one of the four rooms’ floor. They will wake up at around 6:30 a.m. the following day to prepare Maizzuddin’s breakfast.
Despite the fact that Maya and Kohinoor call Maizzuddin and his wife ‘mama’ and ‘mami’, the equivalent of uncle and aunt, they are not really part of the family. The three sons of the house attend school or university while Maya and Kohinoor stay home to clean, tide up, cook, and wash. They both have been working as domestic servants at Maizzuddin’s for the last year.
They are everywhere and do whatever is asked from them: bring a glass of water, prepare and check Tanzin’s schoolbag, massage Tonmoy’s head … Their names can be heard throughout the day according to the work to be done. They seldom go out and in any case, rarely alone.
Before moving to Maizzuddin’s, they use to go to school. Now the only class attended by Kohinoor is the ‘religion class’, twice a week. Being Hindu, Maya does not attend.
Maya and Kohinoor belong to the crowd of young domestic servants which number, in Bangladesh, does not decrease. Most of these children come from poor rural families who hope, by entrusting their daughter to an urban family, to increase their revenues and to create a relationship, which could turn out to be useful in the future. Maizzuddin gives 1,000 Takas monthly to each family.
Parents also consider that it is a good way to prepare their daughters to the work they will have to perform as housewife, which they will all become, sooner or later.
For Maizzuddin, it is a question of ‘prestige’. To employ domestic servants contributes to improve his status. It is like having a fridge or a television.
In the evening, after doing the dishes, the girls deploy their mattresses on one of the four rooms’ floor. They will wake up at around 6:30 a.m. the following day to prepare Maizzuddin’s breakfast.
