AT a time when householders dare not employ a servant without verification for fear of theft and robbery, there are certain families which have had the same domestic help for more than two decades.

While most people rue the fact that "it’s impossible to get decent help these days... servants are just not what they used to be," these families are ready to swear by the loyalty of their servants. So strong is their bond that they can’t conceive life without the presence of the other. The respective parties are, indeed, completely satisfied with each other.

Bahadur came to the Dhillons in July 1982 and is at present well ensconced in the annexe of their house along with his wife and two sons. "I believe that a portion of this type fetches a rent of Rs 3000-4000, but we feel that Bahadur deserves it the most because of his unfailing loyalty to our family," says Brig K.S. Dhillon. "We’d installed Bahadur in this portion of the house when it was under litigation... we’d been trying to have it vacated for years. Many times Bahadur was threatened and abused and even beaten up by the other party in a bid to make him vacate but he held on nonetheless."

Brigadier Dhillon and his wife are deeply appreciative of Bahadur’s qualities and reward him suitably. Every year, the Brigadier calculates a dearness allowance for the retainer and adds it to his monthly salary. In addition, on Divali, he is given a one-month bonus. "Had he remained with FERA services, where I’d got him a job, he would have been entitled to these facilities, so naturally, he shouldn’t lose out because of his choice to remain with us", explains Brigadier Dhillon.

Monetary compensations aren’t the only way that the Dhillon family expresses its gratitude to the retainer. In 1999, Bahadur was injured in a serious road accident, which resulted in brain surgery. As a result of it, he was confined to hospital for a month and a half. During this period, not only did Brigadier and Mrs Dhillon visit him daily for several hours but they also employed four persons to be with him on a rotation basis. Today Bahadur still suffers from 65 per cent disability but he continues to be a part of their household.

"Dhan Singh is a pain in the neck but we can’t do without him", says Mrs Saaz Nagra about her old Jeeves. Dhan Singh has been in the family for the past 40 years. A feisty old man, he rules the Nagra household with an iron fist and woe betide any junior servant who dare cross him.

Dhan Singh came to General and Mrs Nagra in 1961, when the General was posted in Karachi. An excellent cook, he was proficient in all kinds of cuisine and ably met the high standards of service expected by the Nagras. At one time, he had even been offered a job with a salary of Rs 600 (unheard of in those days) in San Francisco, but he refused and stayed on with the family.

Dhan Singh is what is known as a ‘character’. Says Mrs Nagra, "He’s cranky and moody and everybody in the house, except perhaps, our grandchildren, is petrified of him. If one asks him to prepare a certain dish, he is quite capable of refusing, saying: ‘Tamatar bahut mahange ho gaye hain’." Recalls Mrs Nagra, "Even when my husband was in service, Dhan Singh was always penny-pinching. So when we expected 20 guests for dinner, I’d tell him to cook for 40." Even today, the junior gorkha boys have to please Dhan Singh to survive in the family. "Often the boys run away but we’d rather do without them than turn out Dhan Singh."

In fact, last year, after completing 40 years of service, Dhan Singh was retired and pensioned off. Only a few months later, however, the Nagras received a phone call from him, informing them that he was returning along with his wife. Dhan Singh is now reinstalled and is, as ever, ruling over the Nagra roost.

If anyone refers to Karuna Bai as a ‘servant’ in the Khanna household, he’s quite likely to be ostracised by the family. Known as Tai to the members and friends of Bikram and Vineeta Khanna’s family, she has been with them since "God knows when.... She brought me up and I inherited her when I got married," says Vineeta. "Tai knows me and my kids better than anyone else in the world. Both Bikram and I have been busy with our jobs ever since the children were born but thanks to her, I’ve never had to worry even a minute about them or my house. Even today when the kids return from school, or anywhere, they first yell for Tai and then turn to anyone else, even me. We’d all be quite lost without her", says Vineeta.

In return for Tai’s lifelong service, her daughter (Tai was widowed at 18) was brought up by Vineeta’s parents, educated by them and married off respectably. "She and I used to play together as little girls, in fact for a long time I thought that she was my sister" says Vineeta about Tai’s daughter. The word ‘salary’ is never mentioned in Tai’s context. "My parents put a fair amount of money in fixed deposit for Tai and she gets a regular monthly income from there. Once a year, we do an F.D. for her too, she’s pretty independent". Life without Tai? ‘‘Never... inconceivable", chorus Vineeta and Bikram together.

How will you cope as a castaway?
Mary Boote

a) Curl up with a good book or put your favourite record on and enjoy yourself ?

b) Make the best of it?

c) Phone a friend?

d) It never happens?

a) Look for a replacement?

b) Go alone?

c) Stay home, too?

a) Your partner?

b) Both of you?

c) Either of you?

d) You?

a) Jogging?

b) Tennis?

c) An indoor exercise routine?

d) A team game?

a) More than once a week?

b) About once a week?

c) About once a fortnight?

d) Less than once a fortnight?

a) More than once a week?

b) About once a week?

c) Less than once a week?

d) They don’t wait to be invited?

a) You enjoy trying new things?

b) You eat most things that are put in front of you?

c) You have a lot of likes and dislikes?

d) You aren’t all that interested as long as you don’t go hungry?

a) That the world will find out and disapprove of you?

b) That friends and family will disapprove of you?

c) That you disapprove of yourself?

a) Quite competent?

b) Very competent?

c) Below average?

d) Non-existent or as a last resort?

a) Angry?

b) Amazed?

c) Philosophical?

d) Unaffected, treat it as a challenge?

a) Delighted?

b) Apprehensive?

c) Both pleased and anxious?

d) Quick to refuse?

a) Fairly stable?

b) Fun to experiment with once in a while?

c) Always changing?

a) An explorer or innovator?

b) A film star?

c) A lover?

a) Quite happy?

b) A little uneasy?

c) Very uneasy?

d) You’d go hungry first?

a) Music?

b) A radio that could pick up broadcasts from the nearest civilisation?

c) A book on edible plants?

d) Pencil and paper?