Working parents turn to spy cams to keep eyes on ayahs

MUMBAI: Six months ago, Jagruti Shah, a marketing solution company executive, pulled her son Nihal (3) out of a crèche in just a month after admitted him there. Instead, she hired an ayah (maid) and installed a CCTV camera in the living room of her 1-BHK flat in Malad. “I saw a behavioral change in my son while he was in the crèche. He had become quiet, hence we decided to take him out from there and hired an ayah.We now monitor both the child and the ayah as I can see them live on my smartphone, which gets the feeds directly from the device at home,” says Shah, whose husband works with a media organization and travels constantly.
The average cost of a CCTV camera is Rs 4,000.
Shah is not alone to have installed “snooping” devices in her house to keep tab on the ayah and ensure that the kid in the ayah’s care is fed on time, rested and not screamed at or even “spoiled” through excessive indulges. For many time-crunched working parents, the gadget-monitored ayahs are better option than the old, day-care centres or crèches where children may pick up a few undesirable habits.
Former reporter Vedika Chaubey, who now runs a boutique in Kandivali (E), hired a nanny for her daughter Aavaree when she was just one-year-old. Her businessman-lawyer husband has no fixed working hours. She wanted to ensure that her daughter was safe with an ayah and enquired about snooping devices and everyone told her about CCTV cameras. “I didn’t want the nanny to know that I had installed a gadget to spy on her and so I purchased a small spy camera which operated through Wi Fi. I connected it to my phone and I could access the live visuals anytime,” says Chaubey, whose daughter is now 4. She has now shifted to a bungalow and installed a CCTV camera in the kitchen. “I can see my daughter’s activities through the camera and also find what food she has been served,” adds Chaubey, who recommends that all working mothers should instal gadgets to keep tab on ayahs and the kids in their care.
Ragini (name changed), a journalist with a national daily, was in a dilemma about how to ensure that her then two-year-old son (now he is 5) was taken care of well. “My maternity leave was over and my husband had to go out of the house occasionally though he worked from home. I hired a maid and installed two CCTV cameras, one in the main room (hall) and the other for the bedroom. I would get the feeds from the cameras live on my android-enabled mobile phone,” recalls Ragini, who too recommends “snooping” gadgets to keep eyes on the ayahs for the working parents who are uncomfortable with daycare centres.
But is this “snooping” healthy for the kids whose ayahs are under constant surveillance. “Many ayahs put the kids in front of TV sets or even scream at them out of exasperation. The snooping devices or gadgets will help prevent this. Working parents can take advantage of the technology to keep tab on ayahs,” says child psychologist Dhara Shah Bangera.