02/24/2018 04:00pm
She is named "Vajaya", which means "Victory". Before working at the hotel, she was cleaning an ashram (place in India where disciples of a community live around a master).
My husband had an accident just after our wedding, so he can not work. It's been 25 years that I support my family alone. I have two daughters and I work hard to pay for their school. You know, I got married at 19 and I do not want them to live the same life. I wish they could find a job.
I did not have the chance to go to school. My parents died when I was a child. We were four sisters, and we found ourselves alone. A neighbor we knew since long helped us. He swore to protect us. We did the Rahki (Raksha Bandhan), a ceremony that celebrates brotherhood, even for those who are not related. We were lucky: it's hard to be a woman without protection.
Hashim gently translates every word. From the beginning, he is very happy to be part of this conversation, no so easily accessible for men. But when I ask Vajaya if her girls have a dream, he looks at me, surprised "They do not have any: they are just teenagers who go to high school". I insist and he translated my question.
Oh yes, of course ! The first would like to work in finance, and the second one would like to be a stylist. She draws all the tim, look !
Vajaya shows her phone, and I can see dozens of pictures of drawings, dolls and young women wearing dresses.