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Article snippet: NOIDA, India — The madams in the luxury gated community went to yoga classes and toddler playgroups; the maids soundlessly whisked away dirty dishes and soiled laundry before retreating, at night, to a nearby shantytown of tin sheds and plastic tents. This kind of arrangement has persisted across India for decades, in apparent harmony. But early on Wednesday, at the Mahagun Moderne in Noida, on the outskirts of New Delhi, India’s capital, the madams and the maids went to war. A dispute between a maid and her employer erupted into a full-blown riot, as hundreds of the maid’s neighbors, armed with rocks and iron rods, forced their way into the complex and stormed her employer’s apartment. In response, thousands of families have locked their maids out, saying they can no longer trust them in their homes. Ashok Yadav, the development’s head of security, wondered how long the madams could hold out. “The fact is that it is a symbiotic relationship between the madam and the maid,” he said. “Right now, the residents are very angry and shocked at the violent way the mob attacked the society. But before long, they will have to find new maids. How will life go on otherwise?” India’s vast disparity between rich and poor means members of a newly moneyed class are able to hire domestic help for low pay, with no contracts and few legal obligations. Though they may resent their treatment, maids are typically afraid to lose their jobs, and of the “pull their employers may have wi... Link to the full article to read more