<b>Kishore Singh:</b> Why helps are indispensable

My wife's progress through the morning can be mapped by the teacups she strews in her wake

Having spent a little more time at home than usual, I have been able to observe its rhythms closely, and our mornings begin, literally, with a bang. Mary, currently Cook #2 on account of having taken premature retirement but returned after finding the task of being an unpaid help for her grandchildren not to her liking, is averse to the residents of the home sleeping while she is awake, so she announces her arrival with a banging of pots and pans. “Shut the door,” shouts my daughter. “Get up,” grumbles Mary to her, “or you’ll be late for breakfast again.”