Narrative shared by Ms Padma Gupta. Born in a traditional Indian family and brought up in the holy city of Allahabad, Ms Gupta is a Graduate in Chemistry & Masters in Business Administration. She has spent her professional career interspersed between Ahmedabad and Mumbai. With 20 years of experience in Human Resources and Organisational Behavior, Padma started her career as a Research Associate with the Academy of HRD and then moved into the corporate sector. She has worked across Engineering, Oil & Gas Industry and is presently the Director – Human Resources (South Asia) for Hafele India Private Limited, where she is a part of multiple international forums and assignments. She is also a Masters in NLP, coach, author, and mother to 2 children. Her inherent strengths lie in Organisational Development, People Behaviour and Development in addition to enterprise management. She takes pride in being ‘just another human’ and tries to maintain a balance and pursues poetry, writing and social interactions in her free time.
Today morning I came across a beautiful piece on social media elaborating upon the virtues of the Indian housewife and how much they do and it remains largely unappreciated. And as I went through the virtues, I realised that I too wanted a wife – a housewife, preferably an Indian one! Indian, so that she can have all the virtues imbibed through years of having watched and being told, taught, groomed to be a giver of care, comfort, love and work more than you can coz then you have arrived in life as a wife!!
You see it’s a little complicated since I am a wife myself, a mother of two, living with my husband and parents and my lifelines of home help and driver and a gardener who intersperse my days with their contributions from time to time.
Now, why the hell would a wife want a wife! No malicious intention here but seriously a plea to have someone who cares to manage my life as a support and who better than a wife to care! At work, many days when I open my tiffin during the oft rushed lunch hours and I have either rustled a hurried meal that my Dabba shows or it’s my maid’s cooking, leaving much taste to desire and I look at the male colleagues dabbas that are well packed and have a meal fit for a king or as per the diet they are supposed to have – I miss not having a wife then!
Even if a housewife is not in the offering, I could do with a working wife as well but who puts me first! Who ensures there is toothpaste in the washroom when I get up from my sleep and head red-eyed to freshen up or ensures that tomatoes never run out of stock since in a North Indian house no meal is yummy without a dash of tomato! Oh and never forgets that parents need to have dates with milk along with breakfast and nachni is an important part of their cuisine!
Oh and that doesn’t mean I want to not do anything or shirk my contribution! Not at all – I just need the wife to ‘tell me what to do!’… I am a worker and where will I ever say no if I am told to do something – just like the loving, good husbands!
I need the housewife who steps in and reassures my children that what if your mom won’t be there – I will pick you up when you return from that school trip and do up my daughter’s long hair just the way she wants, for that Birthday party. Oh! And remembers we need to get the gifts too for the birthday child!
I also need the wife who can keep the ‘karwa chauth’ and ‘Teej’ fast so I can get away with full day training session of speaking non-stop with some water and cups of coffee and not guilt with a dry throat only to come back late and get disapproved glances coz I don’t have the time to do add become everything traditional as I step hurriedly out of my office clothes to do the Puja!
Oh and most importantly can I have the wife who is my Ambassador too… Someone who is my excuse maker whenever I am unable to turn up or I don’t want to do, talk, participate in many expectations overload! And lets me get away with a bland sentence like “You know she gets too tired with all the office pressure.” or something very simplistic like “You know how these people are, Chodo!”.
I honestly need just one, dutiful lovely wife who will manage the backend for me and never like a job – with love, care, affection and full ownership like all the wives I know do!
To my readers – everyone is discovering hobbies and hidden talents in this Lockdown period I am also exploring that I have this serious need in life and one wife can be the solution to many of us working professionals who are female too!!
Now, I have some of my homemaker friends who want one for themselves too!!
