domestic ramblings

"Brinjal !!", she said, as her face lit up.
My sister was answering my question as to which curry was the easiest to prepare. She's been a mother to me ever since i had to come to Bangalore for my job. Domestic affairs bore me to death, so I was extremely interested in knowing how one can be happy doing the same thing everyday. Of course , we all do almost the same thing everyday and yet be happy about it. I'm a software programmer by profession, but i do a lot of things than just programming, I participate in decision making, technical discussions, etc etc I felt at least my job was not that monotonous as compared to, say, cutting vegetables, arranging the house back to shape after the mess that kids make, all through out thinking about food that someone else might like might not like ... psshah ! GOD help her.

I had put similar sentiments before my mother a lot of times. Her reply always satisfied me for the moment and then didn't at some later point in time. She simply said, she loved us and so she loved her job. My sister's sentiments were similar too. But then, she has an artistic bent of mind. So she also found happiness in different ways of making something, do a bit of embroidery and painting over porcelain whenever she feels extremely bored. Ah ! I must add, i feel that my mother and her sisters had a very comfortable time bringing us up (me, my cousins viz. my generation) when compared my sister bringing up my nephews. I strongly remember (me and my brother being the only children) my father insisting that we help our mother in the daily cores and we, feeling subtly happy, as we clearly saw that this help, though small, made her happy.
There is no such notion in the minds of my nephews. They entertain the impression that they are born to be served.

And the modern girls too. I'm not an advocate of girl-should-be-at-home-only philosophy. But, I always felt and feel that the delicacy of home making is a privilege and art better known to a female than to a male. In families where both father and mother work and the kids are kept in day-care centers, not knowing the mother's touch, and father's love for most of the time in the day are brought up in such an environment void of any sentiments.

I know husbands who don't budge an inch even as wife struggles beyond hope, cooped up in her domestic activities and I know also of families where both the parents work so much at office and home that the kids are be-spoiled. I crave for a family of my own (whenever that forms ;-) ) to be somewhere in the balance. Where the mother can love and care for her kids in the day without having to bother about money earning, be the first teacher to her kids, (her education is not worthless) and yet be upto date with her surroundings. Father comes home, spends time with kids, have a thing or two to help his wife and be happy.

Amen !!
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