Do Homemakers Need to Be Paid For Their Work?

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Actor Kamal Haasan has now forayed into politics after floating his political party Makkal Needhi Maiam’s (MNM). A couple of days back when releasing the party’s portfolio Haasan promised payment to homemakers — along with computers with high-speed internet to all households and transformation of farmers to agri-entrepreneurs — if his party is voted to power in the 2021 Tamil Nadu assembly elections.

Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor supported this proposal of paying homemakers and took to Twitter to hail this initiative

“I welcome @ikamalhaasan’s idea of recognising housework as a salaried profession, w/the state government paying a monthly wage to homemakers. This will recognise and monetise the services of women homemakers in society, enhance their power and autonomy and create near-universal basic income.”

A New Concept

This is a very new concept that hasn’t been talked about much in our society. It brought many questions to my mind – How? Is it even possible? Is it right?

A picture that had gone viral a few months back on being on the cover of cover of Kerala’s Gender Budget 2020 flashed through my mind. It was a painting by a 10-year artist, Anujath Sindhu Vinaylal showing the daily chores of his mother and the mothers in his neighbourhood.

A homemaker, especially in a patriarchal society like ours, takes care of so many things around the house. She is considered the primary responsible person for cooking, cleaning, shopping, caring for the elders, her kids’ upbringing, her husband’s needs and happiness. The list is endless.

Most of the time, all these responsibilities aren’t officially handed over to or taken up voluntarily by the woman. It is almost an unsaid understanding that the moment a woman gets married into the family, these tasks just become her duty. The expectations are obviously way higher if the woman does not have a profession and does not go out to work.

If you don’t realize your worth, no one else will

The fact remains that for most of the homemakers, life is not very easy. Earning money is still considered the most important contribution to the functioning of a family. This thought shapes the way the family and the society views the role of a homemaker – as secondary and less important compared to the one who “provides” for the family. There is very minimal to no acceptance or acknowledgement of the time and effort a homemaker puts in to make lives smoother to all around her.

Infact, a homemaker has to prove her worth by playing several roles and taking up several responsibilities. It would not be very surprising to hear, ‘Ghar par hi tho thi poore din’, being said to her, in case she voices her fatigue after a day’s work occasionally. But what is most disheartening is that many times the woman herself does not value the hard work she puts in and plays down her role in the family.

Love can’t be measured with money

Shashi Tharoor’s tweet in support of homemakers getting paid drew reaction from many people. One of the notable reactions came from actress Kangana Ranaut, who is fiercely independent and known to speak her mind.

Replying to Shashi Tharoor’s tweet, Kangana said, “Don’t put a price tag on sex we have with our love, don’t pay us for mothering our own, we don’t need salary for being the Queens of our own little kingdom our home, stop seeing everything as business. Surrender to your woman she needs all of you not just your love/respect/salary.”

A woman has been blessed to be affectionate, caring, and sacrificing. A mother’s love is incomparable to anything else. When we talk about paying homemakers, are we guilty of trying to put a price on all these emotions. Is it even possible to appraise all the small and big things a homemaker does through the day? It does not even seem possible to imagine a homemaker doing her chores for the money, and not the love and care for the family.

What’s right, what’s wrong? Is there even a right or a wrong?

We may have several other questions in our minds regarding this –

Will getting paid for house work give it the same level of dignity as any other salaried job?

Will it help reduce the sense of patriarchy that we see around us?

Will it help a woman feel more worthy of herself?

Is money the ideal way to acknowledge and appreciate a homemaker’s efforts?

Will we ever become a society where a homemaker can proudly say – ‘I am a homemaker’?

Let this be a start for us to do some thinking. There may be many opinions and many suggestions. But there should be no doubt that homemakers need to be celebrated for all that they do. Homemakers play as much an important role in society as others and it is about time we acknowledge this. What would be the ideal way to do this – give them respect and acknowledgement or payment or both? That’s still up for discussion.

Highlights

This Gurugram woman quit her full-time corporate job to start a cafe in the Himalayas.

The 31YO entrepreneur runs a pizza cafe in a small village, Bir, in the Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh.

The entrepreneur took her husband’s help to build this place.

The cafe was bought on lease by the couple and later renovated to give the desired look.

She is a full-time mother as well as a businesswoman.

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Remember, growing up, how we found people going gaga for city and metro life ― for those huge highways, bright lights and a Bollywood kinda nightlife? Well, only to realize that it wasn’t what most of us were seeking!

And probably this pandemic did teach us and made us realize what kind of humans we are ― some of us ended up settling in mountains while some are still playing with sand on their favourite beaches ― eventually, it’s all about peace and being close to mother nature!!

But like many other folks, Sheetal Bhati is one of those fun-loving women who realized her true calling early and decided to make a home in the mountains much before all this happened.

The Gurugram woman quit her full-time corporate job to start a cafe in the Himalayas.

Now, as desiring as it sounds, the path was definitely not easy for her!!

Satish Sheetal Bhati Sonali Sharma Passion To Profession Infano Bir Himachal Pradesh Himalayan Pizza Mountains — Sheetal with her family in the mountains of Himachal Pradesh

“We were nothing but outsiders for the locals ― trying to establish our business ― which they considered as a threat to their ‘dhandha’. Well, the society does take time to accept outsiders, and it took us almost two years to be a part of them,” says Sheetal.

The 31YO entrepreneur runs a pizza cafe in a small village, Bir, in the Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh. Located at a serene and mesmerizing place, Bir Billing is famed worldwide for being the highest paragliding spot in India and the second highest in the world.

And though the village is quite known for its adventures, it had hardly any good cafes 4-5 years back. This very reason tempted Bhati to open her own cafe business in that village ― very next to the landing spot.

“I came to Bir for paragliding in 2017 along with my husband, Satish. We found this place really amazing and quiet but noticed that there weren’t many cafes around. The village had a few small eateries but nothing that could complement the view. And unlike Manali or Shimla, which are hell full loaded with hotels, cafes and restaurants, this place was not commercialized, had the capability to grow and give back. So we decided to make this our home. It’s been four amazing years, and yes, Bir is growing day by day,” Sheetal adds.

Sheetal Bhati Sonali Sharma Passion To Profession Infano Bir Himachal Pradesh Himalayan Pizza Mountains

The entrepreneur took her husband’s help to build this place. “That man faced so many difficulties!!! I have to admit, and it wasn’t easy,” she chuckles. “Building something in hilly areas is anyways difficult. On top of that, we didn’t have many resources or connections to take help from. My husband used to get most of the construction materials from Delhi, Chandigarh & Ludhiana. And since he was into the real estate business, we eventually pulled it off.”

The cafe was bought on lease by the couple and later renovated to give the desired look. They named it ‘Himalayan Pizza’ and had been treating it like their baby ever since. The cafe is run by a total of 10-13 members, including the owners.

“Our business is just like any other business. There are ups and downs ― lows and highs ― profits and losses; but we got to keep going. Pandemic and the 2020 lockdown was one such time when we were making zero profits and giving salaries to all our team members every month. Ever since we started running this place, almost one and half years was gone into lockdown. And it did make me rethink my decision; I knew we would survive this. And now, since the tourists are returning back, we are getting back into the business ― slowly but exponentially,” she further adds.

Sheetal, being from a retail background, had no idea how to run an F&B business. But it was eventually her experience that got her through. Moreover, it was her team, she believes, that made it further possible for her business to grow. “Our menu is nothing different from what most of the cafes sell; it was our ingredients and the way we cook them that made those special. I had always believed in quality over quantity, so when it was time to finalize the menu, we decided that we would stick to limited recipes which were hassle-free to cook and delicious to serve,” she continues.

She also believes that one must take enough time to do the R&D before finalizing a location for any kind of cafe, boutique or homestay, “who doesn’t like to be their own boss ― but what needs to be the primary focus is how much your business/ location of the business and other factors are going to give you back. You have to sustain every single day while making sure you save enough for your team, family, vendors and maybe, for yourself too!!!”

The entrepreneur who grew up in an army household is also a mother of 5YO adorable daughter, Keyara. “It is slightly difficult and sometimes becomes overwhelming when you are a full-time mother as well as a businesswoman. To add that, especially when you are in the hospitality sector ― you meet different people with different moods every day! And no, you cannot lose yourself. There are days when I feel like shouting back, but instead, I go back and watch the mountains. They make me calm. You do not get weekends because that’s when your sales are on peak. Even on off days, you might have to entertain relatives and guests at your home who expect you to be a tour guide for them. I think we women juggle more than a clown in a circus. And we still do that flawlessly,” she says.

Well true! Over the months, I’ve met and written about so many women entrepreneurs ― all of them doing some amazing job in their respective fields ― sometimes they make me think if we are born this way, or we groom ourselves over time!

Unlike many women, Sheetal believes that she is lucky to have inlaws and a family that pushed her to live her dreams. “I didn’t have to bother about several things as I had many people to take care of those. I’m privileged; however, not everyone is. But either way, that doesn’t mean that you should stop or even wait. You gotta keep moving ahead,” she adds.

In the end, she asks every human out there to be confident and look out for themselves ― because if you won’t, you might be taken for granted!!

If you want to open your cafe somewhere in the mountains or want to enquire about anything about F&B business, you may reach out to Sheetal Bhati via her Instagram. Click here to know more about her venture Himalayan Pizza.

Stay tuned to this space and our series #PassionToProfession to read about more such women, their inspiring journeys and stories.

Write your story to us and let the world get inspired by your wonderful journey!