5 - Heroine | Jeans

Summary

Heroine

Jahanvi liked being the only woman at work; it meant she got all the attention from her male colleagues. If a woman dropped by to ask if the café had any vacancies, she would drive them away. She did not feel threatened by them, but she would also rather not have her colleagues’ attention divided. It was not that she was not sympathetic. She usually took the time to talk to the women who came enquiring about work, having been in that position herself, and if they had a lot of ‘problem’ at home (the kind of problems discussed in Chapter 2), she would direct them to other cafés or shops where there might be vacancies. Before working in this all-male environment, Jahanvi's first job had been in a doughnut café. Her father had been opposed to her employment, and both her parents got worried when she insisted and started going to work: ‘I went to the job; they started calling me several times a day. Have you eaten? Are there girls there? Are there many boys? I told them there are both boys and girls, I’m enjoying myself!’

This was a new environment not just for Jahanvi's parents, who had worked as press wallahs, ironing clothes at a small stall all their lives, but for Jahanvi too. Initially, as discussed in Chapter 2, Jahanvi had felt ill equipped for entry into service work. At one of her first interviews at the mall, ‘Ma’am said talk about yourself, what have you done, are you a graduate. I said I could but not much. She asked me if I know English. I told her I do but not very well.’ Not very confident in her English skills, Jahanvi decided to change tact: ‘Then the next day, I went in a black dress.’ Through her failure in initial interviews in the mall, Jahanvi managed to gather intelligence about the nature and requirements of work at the mall. She decided to wear a black dress, which was not a small change of clothes but a deliberate change of comportment that signalled her aspiration and suitability for service work. This strategy worked; while the girls in the café said there were no vacancies going, ‘there was a sir at the back.