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Love and equality go hand-in-hand. Here is a delightful read on how sharing responsibilities at home sows the seeds of love, equality, and positive change.
The day after our wedding, my husband gave me our brand new car to drive. Yes, the day after! Mine is an arranged marriage so most of you would understand that it was a big leap of faith for him. I did drive but not very regularly and the car was a different one from the kind I was used to driving. My mother-in-law and I had to go for a small errand. The highlight of this drive was that I crashed the car in a side footpath while turning at a bend ! The fender of the car had to be replaced. Just a scratch, and we were both fine. It happened while we were on our way…so, we continued our drive and completed the errand.
My mother-in-law never said a word apart from telling me to be more careful (which was expected and required). Neither did my husband say much. To his credit, he was non-committal about the damage to the car and has since never really told others or me that I am not a good driver; though the teasing does occur occasionally. His relaxed attitude not only encouraged me to drive all over the country, but also to drive many different modes of transport.
His relaxed attitude not only encouraged me to drive all over the country, but also to drive many different modes of transport.
In fact, I have been his driver on many an occasions, and was one just five days after the crash! I also run all his errands and any other important or not-so-important things which require a car or a driver. Come to think of it, maybe it was a part of his master plan to let me do most of the driving! Now, he drives me for my mall-hopping and I drive him to office when he doesn’t want to. Happiness all around!
His faith, his encouragement, and acceptance of me as woman who wants to do her thing, make me try things that even I’m unsure of. But what is the harm in trying, when someone has got your back?
What is the harm in trying, when someone has got your back?
Often, our friends and family are puzzled, and even miffed, that I end up doing things that a ‘husband’ should do; like driving home from a party late at night or going and checking out the rates and schemes for phones, coolers or ACs,etc. We often take ‘joint’ decisions and ‘his only’ decisions and ‘her only’ decisions, too.
Why must we do tasks according to gender? If we truly want women’s liberation and equality everywhere, then why not start at home?
Pic credit: Charlesfettinger (Used under a CC license)
Inderpreet writes for her love of writing, edits manuscripts and reads endlessly. An authors' editor with a decade of experience, she provides manuscript critique, linguistic editing, substantive editing and developmental editing for fiction and nonfiction. read more...
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Neena was the sole caregiver of Amma and though one would think that Amma was dependent on her, Neena felt otherwise.
Neena inhaled the aroma that emanated from the pan and took a deep breath. The aroma of cumin interspersed with butter transported her back to the modest kitchen in her native village. She could picture her father standing in the kitchen wearing his white crisp kurta as he made delectable concoctions for his only daughter.
Neena grew up in a home where both her parents worked together in tandem to keep the house up and running. She had a blissful childhood in her modest two-room house. The house was small but every nook and cranny gave her memories of a lifetime. Neena’s young heart imagined that her life would follow the same cheerful course. But how wrong she was!
When she was sixteen, the catastrophic clutches of destiny snatched away her parents. They passed away in a road accident and Neena was devastated. Relatives thronged her now gloomy house and soon it was decided that she should be married off.
Women today don’t want to be in a partnership that complicates their lives further. They need an equal partner with whom they can figure out life as a team, playing by each other’s strengths.
We all are familiar with that one annoying aunty who is more interested in our marital status than in the dessert counter at a wedding. But these aunties have somehow become obsolete now. Now they are replaced by men we have in our lives. Friends, family, and even work colleagues. It’s the men who are worried about why we are not saying yes to one among their clans. What is wrong with us? Aren’t we scared of dying alone? Like them?
A recent interaction with a guy friend of mine turned sour when he lectured me about how I would regret not getting married at the right time. He lectured that every event in our lives needs to be completed within a certain timeframe set by society else we are doomed. I wasn’t angry. I was just disappointed to realize that annoying aunties are rapidly doubling in our society. And they don’t just appear at weddings or family functions anymore. They are everywhere. They are the real pandemic.
Let’s examine this a little closer.
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