I recently moved to Pune and into a 2BHK with my husband and his brother. They already had a maid, and after living here for a few weeks, I'm honestly shocked.
She gets ₹11,000/month to cook and clean. (3 people, 2bhk)
When I moved in, the kitchen was filthy—grease on the cabinets, dirty backsplash, dust everywhere, and things hadn't been properly cleaned in months. She would only do very superficial cleaning. The hall wasn't set, pillows were never arranged, bathrooms were barely cleaned (just water thrown on the floor), and deep cleaning was never done. When she'd see me clean shed say "arre didi ye last week saaf kiya tha" 🙄🤬
Cooking was another issue. Everything was rushed on high heat, so food was often slightly burnt. It's not even complicated—mostly egg bhurji, paneer, chicken, rice and chapatis.
I ended up reorganizing the entire kitchen myself, cleaning everything, setting up the masalas, making a cleaning schedule, and showing her exactly how I wanted things done.
Another thing that concerns me is groceries. Things like chilli powder and ghee seem to finish much faster than they should. For example, I bought a fresh 200 g packet of chilli powder, and within a week she asked for another one. I can't prove anything, so I don't want to accuse anyone, but it definitely feels odd.
My main question is:
If you're paying around ₹11,000/month in Pune for cooking and cleaning a 2BHK for three people, how long should the maid realistically spend in the house each day?
Mine rushes through everything and leaves quickly, which is probably why the quality is poor.
Has anyone else had a similar experience? Is this normal, or do I just need to find a better househelp?
