Celebs urge people to spare a thought for house helps amid Covid-19 crisis: What can harm you can harm them too

Several TV and Bollywood celebrities have voiced concern and requested people to be considerate towards their house helps and give them a month’s salary so they can deal with this crisis.

It’s the little things matter, even in these times of ‘social distancing’ as coronavirus has turned pandemic. Even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has requested citizens to keep their workers’ interest in mind, Bollywood celebrities have also been steering their fans and social media followers’ attention towards caring enough for the well-being of house helps and staff members.

Sonakshi Sinha has been regularly spreading awareness about the novel coronavirus through her social media accounts.

Actor Sonakshi Sinha penned a note on Instagram, sharing, “In these times, while you’re taking every precaution for your safety and your family’s safety, let’s not forget about the safety of our househelp, home and office staff. Their lives are at equal or more risk with his outbreak too.”

Even filmmaker Vikramaditya Motwane expressed concern via Twitter, “What is the most effective way to explain coronavirus dos and don’ts to house help? Social distancing is not something they can afford in Bombay [Mumbai].”

Singer Arjun Kanungo and actor Sayani Gupta came up with a suggestion, “Give them paid leave and explain to them how serious this is. That they should stay home and leave the house only when absolutely required,” tweeted Kanungo. Actor Maniesh Paul has already paid advance salary to his staff.

Gupta, who has given her maid paid leave, tells us, “They deserve a break and to be safe, as much as you do. When we talk about safety, it has to be in a cumulative and collective sense, not individually. My maid’s husband is a rickshaw driver, and when I asked her to tell him also to stay at home, her concern was the pay that will suffer. People who are more privileged should be more mindful and help others as far as they can.”

Actor Kubbra Sait has got her house help to stay with her instead of travelling to and fro. “Most of us can extend help to the less fortunate people... I think the one thing that is beautiful about our country is that there’s so much inter-dependency on so many levels that it’s time to appreciate, acknowledge and act on that inter-dependency today,” she says.

Filmmaker Onir also asked his house help to stay home and take care of her family. In return, he made the most of it by pampering his parents with a breakfast of Aloo Parathas that he made. “Was not bad #DoingPositiveThingsInTimesOfCoronavirus,” he tweeted.

Amit Sadh felt that “better than posting poems and workouts, and sharing food recipes, and showing how amazing our lives are... please take care of people around you , your teams, people working with you or for you ... and especially the daily wagers”. He adds that in these day’s of isolation and crisis, “it would be good to assure them that their job is safe and they would continue to receive their salary even in extended period of lockdown”.