Ohhhhhhhh…..To Be A Housewife !!!!!

How I hate it when women describe themselves as just a housewife ! ! ! Often accompanied by an apologetic smile….. as if they were feeling sorry for them selves…

This is not a piece of writing aimed at broadcasting the greatness of homemakers or advocating women’s lib. This out pouring has been spurred on after reading a recent survey, which stated that, if only the unused potential of the section of population called ‘Housewives’ were to be used, India would be a Super power in no time! It’s a simple expression on why I think women – housewives in particular- often underrate their capacity to achieve greater heights in life.

Being a housewife is perhaps the toughest job in the world! Definitely akin to that of an MD or CEO of a big organization without the trimmings of board meetings, perks and accompanying extra fittings. Administration [running the house], Finance [monthly budgets], Targets [every day is a deadline] Labor problems [servants/ staff], HR [maintaining smooth relationships], PR [putting her best foot forward at all times] – you name it and she does everything and all on her own too!!

Tackling the daily menu could be the toughest part of the day, especially when you have people with taste buds that hardly match, especially on a busy Monday morning when everyone is so grouchy about starting a new week. It’s the unwritten rule that you ought to know how to cook the yummiest of dishes like the best of chefs.

By the time everyone leaves the house in the morning rush hour, the place literally looks like a tornado hit area. Clearing the after math requires all the patience in the world, especially if you have kids and certainly deserves no less than a Nobel Prize!!!

What have you…. Piles of clothes, books, CD’s, newspapers to be searched and retrieved from as far as from the toilets, innumerable pens with either the top or bottom missing, a mysterious single sock staring at you …and if you don’t watch your step you’ll have ‘Hot Wheels’ transporting you free of cost to another destination!

Where are the servants, one might ask?

Well, you have to be at your diplomatic best with them…. Pamper them, cajole them, be nice to them, scold them lovingly [??] only to find that you are better off doing most of the work your self!!! One harsh word and what have you ….loads of vessels and clothes staring back at you the next day because she has taken off !!!

….not to mention the numerous phone calls, innumerable door bells, birthdays to be remembered, sudden guests to be tackled…. A slight slip on your part to mention a call and you have the most exasperating question thrown at you “what do you do the whole day ?”
And don’t forget you need to look nice and bright to greet your little ones in the evening or very sweetly be asked, ‘why aren’t you like the mom in the noodles ad ? ‘

In the ultimate analysis it goes without saying that housewives are the finest of people tackling the toughest of jobs…only that is has been taken for granted for so long that people hardly realize their importance until a broken marriage elsewhere shakes them up!

Plus of course, modesty prevents us from bragging about it !

So all you housewives out there, sit up and feel proud of what you are doing…add that extra pep in your step because you are doing a wonderful job! If you are also managing a career then hats off to you!!!! But if family situation/constraints do not allow you to pursue one, don’t get bogged down by it. Just remember you chose to give up that option for a bigger gain….the happiness of your family !!!! How many would do it ???

So three cheers to you and go all out and have fun…….hehehe…everyone else in your house is LOST WITHOUT YOU, if even for a day !!!!