The woman stood leaning against the wall. Her face somewhat pinched, a line drawn between her brows. We were in the small, ‘for members only’ women’s loo at the NCPA in Mumbai. A prestigious state-of-the-art space that has done great service in promoting and presenting artistes and art.
It’s a tiny space, this loo on the first floor, which only regular visitors and curious ones who bother to ask know about. Two tiny cubicles and outside that, space for a wash basin and for one or two women to stand waiting their turn. And of course, space for this woman. The attendant.
Not an enviable job, this. To stand within the confines of a loo, watching the swish crowd entering and leaving, without even noticing her presence. At least not unless the tap would not work, or the toilet paper ran out.
Compounding the claustrophobic effect the space must have on her was the fact that there was nothing for her to sit on. No room for a chair of course, but a low stool, unobtrusive and easily tucked away would have done so much to take the load off her legs.
The 4-5 hour shift, if it was as small as that, to cover the duration of a show, must be a mild torture. Questioning revealed that she had made requests for some form of seating furniture, but no heed had been given to the request. Maybe her immediate superior was a man, and he had not bothered to let the request wend its way up to the HR department that could set the ball rolling.
Forgetting small details
It’s sad how easily we forget the small details that make life easier for those in the lower rungs of employment. Women who ‘man’ ladies loos at airports and malls, and other public spaces which hope to keep their loos clean are obvious victims of neglect. And often subjected to rude behaviour.
It’s common enough at an airport in Mumbai at least, to see the attendant rushing into a cubicle before it can be entered by a passenger, hurriedly cleaning the toilet seat with a tissue and ensuring it is clean and dry. Obviously, many of them fear a complaint will lose them their job.
Surely an attendant’s job in a loo is to clean the space periodically, channel the crowd to ensure there is no confusion even when everyone seems to be in a hurry, and to ensure the loos are in working condition. Personally cleaning each set of seats through the number of times a loo is visited through a shift cannot be part of, should not be part, of the job description.
The toilets have sanitisers to sanitise seats before use, those finicky enough can do so; though the truth is most women do not care a hoot. Yet, no one turns a hair and women stand watching while another woman cleans a toilet seat on their behalf.
It is good to remember that even the lowest job doer is an employed person, earning her wage to keep the home fires burning. And as a fellow human being is required to be treated properly.
Share a smile
It applies to men too, but men have been known to stand up and ask for their rights, and deflect bullying. It is good for women to remember that the women they see working in places that demand long hours for little pay and endurance of physical stress need to be treated with some politeness.
If you cannot bring yourself to thank them for what you believe is ‘their job after all’, share a smile, or make eye contact. It takes nothing from you; but making them feel they are not a part of the fittings makes their day a whole lot more bearable.
The writer is a Consulting Editor with Penguin India