What do I need to know about nannying for an Indian family?
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Anonymous
| Please excuse my ignorance but I do not have any Indian friends. I will be interviewing this week for a nanny position with an Indian family and I wonder if there's anything I should be aware of ahead of time. Please no snark. Thanks all. |
Anonymous
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Are they Indian or Indian-American?
The Indian-American families I have worked with have been pretty much the same as any other race of native US citizens. I do think there is more of a focus on academics vs play-based learning, but that is certainly not true of all. They may be more likely to be vegetarian or to eat only fish/poultry, but again, there is going to be a huge variation there. |
Anonymous
So how did it go? 
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Anonymous
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You should know not to make any assumptions based on their race/nationality until you've met them.
-Nanny to an Indian family that fits none of the stereotypes I often hear |
Anonymous
OP here. Thanks all. Still waiting on scheduling the interview. 
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Anonymous
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The Indian families I've known take their shoes off in the house.
I've worked for Indian people, but not as a nanny. One thing I had to get used to culturally is they were very blunt. If I did something wrong, they would just say, "you did this wrong." At first it would hurt my fragile American feelings. I thought they didn't like me. But I got used to it when I realized they were just being sincere. |
Anonymous
| India has a caste society and domestic workers are considered lowest caste and treated accordingly. |
Anonymous
| I work for a biracial family. The mom is Indian, and the dad is white. My MB grew up in the US, but her parents are immigrants. She is no different than you or I. They have different religious ceremonies that she takes part in for different ocassions (like blessing the baby when he was born), but that really has nothing to do with me. I just take my shoes off when I get to the house, and that's about the only thing I've noticed that was different! |
Anonymous
| Some of them are quite good to work for others have that caste mentally from their culture. So you probably might work long hours.. |
Anonymous
Eh it depends. I worked for an Indian family (parents moved to US in their early 20s) and they treated me wonderfully. MB and I were talking once and she mentioned that both she and DB had many people working in their homes when growing up and were appalled by how their families treated them. Or at least that was the reasoning she gave for giving me a month off paid when her parents came to visit, explaining she didn't want me to have to put up with them! |
Anonymous
| Frankly speaking I worked with so many Indian families , I haven't seen good one they are either OK or bad. When you are considering job with them please make sure that you are working legally and remind them how nanny are treated in USA not like their country. Put everything in table before taking the job. Most of them want you to do all work for free. |
Anonymous
Sorry, I know it's not PC but this was my experience as well. Of course this was one family but there are certain cultural differences you need to be aware of. FWIW, these were not parents who grew up here. |
Anonymous
| I am not a nanny, and I would have to chime in that you may want to proceed w/ caution. Where I work there are several Indian co-workers. They all seem to have this arrogance b/c of their caste, and judge people accordingly. How else can they justify not showing concern for millions of their own people living in complete and utter poverty? As an Indian friend of mine once joked, "We had servants, but at least we never beat them." When my friend and I visibly cringed, he looked confused and asked us what he said wrong. Also, they are notoriously frugal. |
Anonymous
| Frugal is a polite way to put it. |
Anonymous
| I have worked for two Indian families and they are the best to work for. Very nice and welcoming. I would rather work for Indians then a American. |