I am a slave! Hear My Cry! Save Me!

My name is Ramalakshmi, I am 55 years old and am from Ram Nagar in Coimbatore. I got a job offer in Saudi Arabia through an agent. Since I have two daughters and wanted to get them married, I thought this as a good opportunity to make some money and decided to take up the job. The agent promised to pay me Rs 25000 a month. It looked very attractive especially given my situation. I got my passport and left for Saudi with a lot of dreams. When I reached the airport an agent picked me up in his car and we drove and got to a palatial house. He handed me over to the woman of the house and left. I do not know the name of this place. The assigned work was shown immediately. I had to cook for the family, wash the clothes and iron them, clean the kitchen and the toilets every day and take care of the children.

They took away my passport, my jewels, and my clothes. They gave me two night gowns to wear. In the beginning I thought of this as a routine. But slowly I had to take care of the animals of the house as well. I was given only one meal a day to eat and I had to drink the water from the toilet. I had only two sets of night gowns and I had to wash them and wear them one after another.

One day the men of the house along with the lady stripped me and video graphed me. I am 55 years old. They stripped me of my dignity. They started to black mail me with that video. Later they packed my jewels along with some cash and placed it in my bag. They asked me to go and check my bag. As I was taking things out of my bag they video graphed it and said that they had now clear evidence of stealing. They threatened to report me to the police charging me with theft.

At home they constantly beat me up with a whip, sticks and with their shoes. When I cried or protested they would blackmail to release the video to the Police who would arrest me for five years or cut off my hands for theft. I had to endure all this pain.

I cried and told them to pay my salary, they paid Rs 15000 only against the promised Rs 25000. For the last 6 months they have not paid me. My employer said that she had bought me for 25,000 Rials. I was her slave. I am asked to pay 25,000 Rials if I have to leave.

They would force me to wash their clothes with shit on it. The worst is when the woman took out her panties that was filled with her menstrual blood and pressed it against my face and forced me to smell it. I was repeatedly tortured, beaten and abused. I can't endure this. Since I continued to cry and protest, they have shifted me to another huge bungalow to work. My employer has taken away all my belongings along with my passport. This place is entirely new and I don't know where I am .

I have told this to my daughter in Coimbatore. She has written to the protector of emigrants. I have not received any help. I only have the name and phone number of the agents they are not helping me. The government of India is not helping my case. I need to get out of this place. I have the money to pay for my ticket. I need somebody to find me and get me out. I cannot reach the Indian Embassy by myself as I know that it is really far away. They can't enter the house where I live in as well. I need someone to help me. Please help me. I am a slave who is tortured every day, I have no tears left.

I live in Saudi Arabia and need help urgently. My employer's name and address is, Riyadh Mustafa, Giza Immava Tower, No 2, Apartment Floor, Isha Door No 674K, Opposite Siddha Mosque, Riyadh. My phone number is 00966592257267.

The story was narrated by Ramalakshmi to Sr Valarmathi of National Domestic Workers Movement (NDWM) and me. NDWM is an organization that works for migrant women who are exploited and trafficked.

There are hundreds of women who are suffering as slaves in many countries. They are known as the ones who do the dirty, difficult and dangerous jobs. They fetch the most amount of foreign exchange for the country but they are treated less than animals. Their cry continuously falls on deaf ears of the administration.

Any help in this case is appreciated. If you are in the Saudi area and can help do get in touch with us we will give you more details. mjavalar@gmail.com, gladstonxavier@gmail.com

The rapids of Rishikesh

Apart from the holy sites, Rishikesh is a real adventure spot for those who what to taste the thrills of life. The curvy roads with the snarling horns take you Rishikesh. The name is synonymous with holiness. It is a legendary town filled with the richness of Hindu mythology. It has hundreds of places of stay and temples to visit. The sadhus and sants line the borders of the temples while people from all walks of life come in and out of the temples to pay a visit to their gods. The narrow, noisy crowed streets of Rishikesh offer an adventure even when getting across the road. The drivers and motorists have to steer clear not only of the approaching traffic but of vendors who have strayed far into the main road from their shops, and also from the lonely cows and bulls who just traverse the roads as if nothing mattered to them.

For those who want to walk, you may do so as adventure constantly awaits you. A walk along the ganga is most preferred. The beautiful river beds with its green grandeur exposing its richness and capacity to wash away all that comes in its way. The walkers must be prepared for any surprise that comes along. It may be in the form of monkeys that are probably hungry, or in the form of well fed cows or dogs that are just relaxing and taking a walk as well.

The real challenge is to walk on the shores from temple to temple ghat to ghat without burning your feet with the holy dump of cows, dogs and if your are lucky human as well.

The mountains and the river offers a reasonable adventure to the brave. Rafting, trekking, rapelling, rock climbing, wind surfing, bungee jumping and so on are not for the faint hearted. But getting there from the pick up point will make your heart faint. The drivers make sure you have a complete experience of this as they showcase their talents in the formula one style on the ghat roads. They wait to speed and want to finish fast as if they want to see the chequed flag waved out at them.

Actually, this adventure starts even before signing up. It is a test of research skills and bargaining. In the hotel they offer a price that seems reasonable, on the street they seem a bit cheaper and attractive and once you have paid after all the research you are taken with a group of people who have boarded the same boat/raft/dingee/ by paying half your price. That definitely is an adventure.

Well, adventure in terms of sports are spectacular but not well promoted. The shadow of holiness covers the beauty of the adventure. It makes me guess that this location was an adventure sport centre of the gods as all their legends are built around the mountains and rivers. So much so this, is believed to the theatre of action where the famous episode where Shiva drank the poison and got named ‟Blue Neck”.