How Liberated Are Woman

RUPA was in a tizzy. The maid, as usual, had passed on the information that she wouldn't be turning up today. Of all the days! Really, Shanti had a penchant for choosing the most awkward of days. She wished she could turn her out but she sighed knowing that it was only wishful thinking. On the office front, the project had to be completed today and she hoped that her completion would pave the way to ask for a day's leave from her taciturn boss. Workaholic to a fault, he expected the same from everyone.
"Ma, don't forget to take off for my science exhibition." My daughter ordered peremptorily.
"Don't count on that, beta. She is under the assumption that her absence would send the IT sector crashing!" Her husband inserted caustically.
"Don't underestimate my job profile. Why can't you take off for your precious daughter? Will the whole financial sector of the country be in a shambles if you do so?" Rupa screamed.
Really these men! . Generally her husband Sunil would give a hand in the household work but he was upset with her because he had been asking her to employ another maid from the agency. Rupa was reluctant because Shanti knew the ways of her house and she just did not have the time to train another. Another grouse was her reluctance to invite his parents for an extended period. She knew that they belonged to the old school and it would be difficult to cater to their needs besides keeping up her taxing job.
She rolled out the chapatti and threw it on to the tawa. Briskly she stirred the sabzi on the other stove and expertly rolled out another as she continued to mutter to herself. She was tired mentally and physically. She tried to remember when she had last sat down and relaxed. The worry about Ramya was also getting to her. Her grades were slipping and she reminded herself that it would be better to interact with the teacher. But where the hell was she to find the time?
Rupa shook her head to clear it off all her negative thoughts. On the positive side the job satisfaction she derived was great and the bank balance was steadily increasing. That reminded her that she simply had to find time to discuss long-term investment plans with her husband instead of just allowing the money to accumulate in the bank.
She managed to leave the house at 8.00 a.m. sharp, which she had to if she didn't want to be delayed by the traffic jam. She completed the project well in advance and earned a faint nod from her boss and, surprise of surprises, a full day off without a murmur. Rupa was very pleased with herself. Then at 7.00 p.m. a call from her boss! A new project, a new deadline and of course scrapping her leave to a three-hour permission after much haggling.
Back home she found it difficult to deal with a sulky Ramya who was unable to or simply refused to accept that a high-profile job did not simply allow time for emotional pleading. She went to bed hungry thus paving the way for another show down with Sunil. He stormed off to the guest room to cool down!
The day dawned bright and chirpy made more so with the arrival of Shanti. She, God bless her, did her job extremely well and needed no supervision. No explanation was forthcoming regarding her leave the previous day and Rupa did not want to raise the issue lest it escalated into a difficult situation. Rupa decided to "avail her permission" in the morning, as she was apprehensive that once she stepped into her office even getting away would become difficult. She went to the school and saw the room in which her daughter was displaying her project. Ramya wanted her mother to visit her friends' projects but Rupa did not have the time.
However she managed to have a word with the class teacher and learnt that her daughter was displaying a lack of interest in learning. Most of the time she seemed to be in a world of her own. "Another job in her long list," Rupa thought, as she drove to her office. She simply had to find time to chat with her daughter. She would order a "take away" this evening and make sure she spoke to her daughter about the importance of education. She was 13 and must learn to take her responsibilities seriously, she mused.
That night she gave her daughter a talking and tried to draw her out on what was troubling her. She stressed the importance of education. "See, Ramya. I am able to shoulder the responsibility of running this household and earning almost as much as your father. This was not just possible earlier due to lack of education. Your grandmothers had to put up with the drudgery of the household and almost be like slaves in their own house. Do you want to be liberated like me or be exploited like in earlier times?" she concluded.
Rupa was sure that Ramya would see sense and decided to allow her to sleep over all the facts and got up to leave the room when ... ... "Ma, you said that education makes us financially independent and we need not depend on any one. We can take rest and relax. But Shanti takes more leave than you do and sees more movies than you have ever seen. You seem to depend on her more than she does on you. So who is more liberated?"

published in " The HIndu" magazine section february 2006



brought to light by chandrika and here by urs truly sunkan