My morning started with sounds of our neighbors arguing. It was surprising because all the members of that family are so quiet that they hardly speak......arguing is WAY out of the question! It was later that I came to know they were arguing over some household work.
Our neighbors are both working. The lady of the house has been working for years. Life for her was not so difficult till now, but now that she is advancing in age, she finds it very difficult to manage her home, work, shopping along with meeting with all social obligations, with absolutely no support from her husband or son. She has to manage everything alone. Today's cleaning job required two people but when her husband expressed his reluctance to help, she flared up.
Most Indian men have broadened their horizons, but only where it is convenient to them. They are not averse to working wives, as long as they look after the house and the children efficiently, takes care of the in-laws and all other odd jobs inside and outside of the house. But when they are asked to help in any of these jobs, they become uncomfortable.
It is not their fault I would say, they have been conditioned to believe that it is demeaning to do such jobs. Though this attitude is changing now, there are still a lot of families where boys are not expected to help out in the house (mine being one of them). When my son went to his friend's house, his mother taught him to make chapatis. She said even the boys should be trained in the house hold work.....and I agree with her completely. When they move to other places for studies or jobs, they should be equipped to fend for themselves.
These days with even the wife working and multi tasking, and growing scarcity of reliable domestic help, it is mandatory that all the members of the household do their bit to help her run the house efficiently without wearing herself out.
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