THE 21ST CENTURY HOUSE-WIFE

A young man went to a Zen Master and asked to be explained what is Heaven and Hell. The Sage replied, Heaven is an American salary, German car, Chinese food and an Indian wife. And Hell? Hell is an Indian salary, Chinese car, German food and an American wife.
The Indian Housewife is indeed a unique species. It is also an endangered species, since we see less and less of them in the younger generation. The traditional Indian wife has been like the German car that would traverse any road in the Dessert or Arctic, floods or drought, potholes or no roads, hills or swampsand reach you home without expectations, except to be filled with fuel. Centuries and millennia have programmed the Indian woman to don the role of the Home-Maker with equal case, whether she is 18 or 80, highly educated or a village girl, professional executive or full time kitchen Manager. There has been a significant rise in the office-going population of women in urban India. In the last one generation alone, there is a distant increase not only in numbers, but also in the quality of work they do. From traditional vocations like teacher, secretary, typist, nurse etc., Indian women have gone on to occupy the highest and most responsible positions in the corporate and administrative world. And yet this generation has seen significant changes in this traditional role. The twenty first century housewife has to function within these parameters: As I mentioned earlier, the Indian Wife-Mother-Home Maker may be an endangered species, but currently she is very much alive and kicking. She is priming the water pumpat 5 am., hunting out yesterdays tiffin box of her child, desperately trying to find two socks that match each other, is remembering to give Thatha his medicine on time, cooking three different types of food to suit individual family members, and putting on the right make-up to look presentable in office. Equally alive is the full time home-maker who takes up additional responsibilities of running to her parents house and setting things right there, gets the corrections done in their bank pass-book, chases agents and brokers to get the right house, and tries to look carefree and fresh at 9pm. When she accompanies her husband to his office party, and modestly replies, I am just a housewife. The story of the Indian housewife does not start when she is married. It starts when she is born as a girl. The twenty-first century housewife was born in the twentieth century, and has been indoctrinated by the traditional culture of her mother and grandmother. Hence she now has the unenviable task of balancing between the traditional and modern tight rope. This itself is quite a challenge, particularly since there are no precedents on how to handle the situations that are arising in todays family situations, and there is very little in-house help available. In fact todays housewife probably gets more help from friends, self-help books and Internet, than she gets from relatives and neighbours. A house is built by cement blocks and bricks. But a home is built by the home maker, who adds the ingredients of dedication, compassion, care warmth, nurturing, safety, and above all...love! The twenty first century housewife faces challenges that her mother and grandmother could not even have dreamt of. She balances many roles, she has great aspirations and makes equally big sacrifices. She needs acknowledgement, motivation, love and nurturing. Nurture the home-maker, and you have a great home.
Contributed by Patrick Vaz; Volunteer counselor at BBH, Banjara Accademy, SAHAI, throw the net. Source; Life skills, Banjara Accademy, Internet.