The Bachelors and The Cook

My maid servant is regular, does her work, informs me in advance if she is to take leave, (never does any extra work :( even if I am ready to pay her extra), never expects tea, coffee or food from me. In appreciation of most of the above I give her additional amounts from time to time on festivals, besides the Diwali bonus, I give her an allowance for her kids at school re-opening time. She seems happy about this arrangement and so am I.

To supplement her income, she has now taken up an additional job of cooking and cleaning for 3 bachelors who live down the lane.

Out of interest I asked her whether she liked her new job.
She said she was very happy and soon I found out the reason for her happiness.
Seems she used to cook for them last year but left it after a month of trial and error.
Then these guys were struggling with an elderly woman who used to cook and make off with things from the kitchen often. One of them approached her yet again to take on the mantle. Though she was a bit hesitant she accepted the challenge and is settling down to the job quite well.
She was afraid of so many things - her cooking may not be good, no word of either appreciation or criticism from these guys.
In time, the guys taught her how to cook items like sambar, dal and rice.
She sticks on to this job because of a single factor.
She said, the moment she finishes her cooking, the guys come with their plates, load the food and junk the vessels for her to clean. The fact that there's not a single grain of rice nor a drop of sambar makes her happy that the food is all gone within minutes of its getting ready.
I knew that it was more important for her to see the food vanish than to hear praises about it.
The salary is for her work.
I am sure she will better her cooking skills with each passing day.

The satisfaction and enjoying of one's work can never be measured in terms of money or salary.
It is this that motivates us to do better.
Appreciation for good work is rare to come by and when it does come, it is a bonus, nevertheless, we carry on at our skills as we do with our living.

Cheers.
Mahalakshmi