Quirks of Life - #ATOZCHALLENGE – Q (2026)

 

She walked in icily without even saying a word.

Zoya was totally at a loss. How do I tell her to dust the walls properly? Will she sweep under the sofa, the bed, and even the cupboards? How do I tell her to go easy on my glass cutlery? She seems to break something or the other.

While all these thoughts played in her mind, the very preoccupied Zoya was in a moral dilemma of her own. Am I being too demanding? Or am I being fair?

Sahina, the house help, had successfully gaslighted her into believing she was being unreasonable. Her mind game? Just look emotionless and rigid. Let the opposite person feel it is acquired stoicism from a very fraught life.

She was poor, and she obviously did not have it easy. Her excuse was perfect.

Sahina’s plan worked. She managed to clean the home superficially, earphone in her ears to avoid any of Zoya’s instructions, and then dashed off to her next employer.

The furniture was still dusty; the vessels had a film of grease; and the washroom still had footprints of Sahina’s soiled feet.

“She wears better sandals than I? How does she manage to stain her feet?”

Cleaning up a bit after Sahina, Zoya got dressed to go to work.

“You look flustered,” Anita asked.

“Yea. Quirks of the maid.” Zoya forced a lop-sided grin.

“Get another. Put her in place.”

“I feel out of character myself. She acts like the boss, throwing ultimatums at me.”

I need extra to clean the furniture. Get me a good detergent or increase my pay to make-do with this poor quality one. Get XYZ brand of floor-cleaner if you want a spotless floor.

Any comment on her work demanded an extra cost attached to an expensive product.

At work, their manager came to assign tasks for the day. Sara, the intern, who had overhead the conversation realized that Zoya was a bit of a softie. All she needed to hear was a sob story and she would go out of her way to help her.

She consciously acted confused. For a moment Zoya gave in, but then thought in her head. Coworker quirks.

In trying to draw a line, Zoya ended up coddling her quite a bit.

“You will remember these things in a not-so-nice way. It will reflect your inability to guard your interests.” Anita chided.

“True that. I guess I will learn in time, or I won’t.”

 

The next day, Sahina walked in with a blackeye. Zoya stood their frozen in fear.

“W-what happened? Who hit you?”

“Bhabhi, yesterday I ran off early without doing your work completely and got on a crowded train. I had a scuffle with a rowdy woman who threatened to throw me out because I got to close to her. She started calling me servant and stuff. Even you don’t call me a servant. So I got offended and pulled her hair. I didn’t know she was so strong. She landed a punch in my eye and hence this.”

She pointed at her sore eye yet again.

“I’ll do your work fully next time, so that I can get a later train and don’t have to deal with her again.”

Problem number one, autocorrected itself. Zoya did and did not commiserate. She didn’t do right by her, but she didn’t deserve the blackeye either.

At work, the next day, Sara was getting an earful from their head.

“You people, your generation you act so woke, but this is not what I needed. When I ask you questions about what you have done, you go all blank. If I ask Zoya the same thing she will reply from her head and not from some lousy AI app.”

Karmic redemption déjà vu.

Zoya stepped in to take stock of the situation. “Hey I spoke to her yesterday. She is doing her best. Allow her to make some mistakes. She will sail through just fine.”

Sara looked up with gratitude.

“Thanks for getting me out of this one. And I am so sorry, I misjudged you. I thought you were naïve and can be persuaded without much effort. But you are truly kind and helpful. I promise to put the AI jazz on a backseat and put in some real thoughts in the work.”

“You’ll get there Sara. You’re a smart girl. Just channel the smartness to the task and you will rock.”

They both smiled and parted.

People have quirks, alright, but Karma can be quirkier. Zoya thought this and smiled to herself.