After trying her hand at a garment factory and a showroom job, neither of which fit around her responsibilities at home, Vijayalakshmi, 27, felt that only domestic work allowed her to hold things together.

Married at 18 and widowed five years later after her husband died of kidney failure linked to alcoholism, she now raises two daughters – aged seven and eight – on her own. Having studied only up to Class 7, she is determined that her daughters should not be pushed into the same cycle. Vijayalakshmi works across four homes in Bengaluru’s Yeshwanthpur, earning about ₹11,000 a month in total. While there is no fixed pay, hours or leave, it is the only work that allows her to manage her children and still earn enough with her limited education.