"I observed Mrs. Sharma was talking to you for quite a long time. What was so interesting, may I know?" Manoj asked his wife, Smita, soon after the guests had left. "Aww! nothing great. She was just thanking me for beautifully setting up our son's house when I had been there." "Oh! the usual ladies topic" remarked Manoj and became busy in reading the day's newspaper. Smita and Manoj had been married for several years now. During this time, she had realized that Manoj is a male chauvinist. Leading a life with such a person was in itself an achievement leave alone trying to change his attitude.
Smita had decided that she will train her daughter into such a person that she would not have to lead a life that she herself was living. She would make her daughter not only mentally and physically strong but also financially independent too. Just like her son, Aditya, Maya too was brought up with utmost care and full liberty given to her. Even Manoj was showering all his selfless love on her as on Aditya. As a result Maya not only successfully completed her education, but also got herself a good job and settled down well in her family life. This gave immense satisfaction to Smita and it also helped change Manoj's attitude to a much extent. What Smita's love could not achieve was accomplished by Maya's success. Aditya too completed his studies with flying colors and got himself into building up his career. Meanwhile, Smita had come to know about Aditya falling in love with a girl called Vivechna. Aditya had confided everything into his mother. Smita was aware of her responsibility to reveal it to Manoj for which she was waiting for the right opportunity and she did not have to wait too long. The other day Maya's in-laws had come in calling. They were very appreciative of Manoj and Smita's modern views and the way they had brought up Maya and Aditya. After they left, Smita broached the subject of Aditya's marriage. "Have you noticed that Aditya too has reached a marriageable age? We must start thinking in that direction now." "Yes, yes definitely." Then Smita revealed the entire story about Aditya and Vivechna and convinced him that she would be an ideal daughter-in-law. Satisfied that Manoj was convinced, Smita felt more happier than what Aditya did.
Aditya and Vivechna's wedding was carried out with much pomp and show. All the guests appreciated the way the celebrations were held. Soon after the wedding, the newly wedded couple moved to their city of work. Both Aditya and Vivechna were insisting on Manoj and Smita to visit their place. In fact, Vivechna's parents had been their about twice or thrice, but Manoj was finding it difficult to go due to his business commitments. Smita was quite eager to visit her son's home and wanted to experience his lifestyle so Manoj booked her on a flight to the city where the son and daughter-in-law were living. Aditya had come to the airport to receive her. On the way home, Aditya was inquiring about the things back home but Smita was busy in looking at the tall buildings of the metropolis which she had never seen before. When they reached home, the maid opened the door. After making a quick round of the small two-bedroom house, Smita enquired about Vivechna. "Left for office," Aditya replied, "didn't I tell you she leaves for office early. Her reporting time is early in the day and also her office is quite far from here and so returns late. The maid will serve you tea and breakfast and will also prepare food for lunch. Now I have to get ready for office. I will return home after 9. Until then, you can watch TV or read newspapers or just take rest, okay?"
Smita was dejected after looking at the condition of the house. The situation was worse than she had imagined. It was a total mess. There were clothes, books, newspapers scattered all over the place. The table had stains of used cups and glasses. The maid cleared the cups and glasses and cleaned the entire house. When Smita came out of the bathroom the maid had already left and Aditya was ready to leave for office. After Aditya left, Smita started pondering what to do next as she was all alone in the house. She realized that in a house when both husband and wife are working, the place cannot remain in order. Luckily, she had come alone to Aditya's house and Manoj was not accompanying her, otherwise he would have been annoyed finding the place in a mess. After having her breakfast, Smita made herself busy in cleaning up the mess. By the time the sun went down, her son's home was spic and span. She cooked dinner and waited for the son and daughter-in-law to return. Vivechna was the first one to arrive. She touched Smita's feet and did a formal enquiry about her and Manoj's well being. After giving a quick glance at the neat and tidy place, she went into her bedroom. Smita thought for a while about her strange behavior but didn't feel bad about it. A little later Aditya also returned home. He looked happy seeing the neatly decked up house, but got angry with the thought that his mother was busy the whole day making up the place and didn't take rest. Smita smiled at the concern shown by her son and said, "don't worry dear, I was not at all feeling tired and so doing all these things was not a burden for me. I am absolutely feeling fresh. Okay, now go and change and freshen up. Vivechna has already returned. I will make tea for all the three of us." During dinner there was not much talk about anything as such. Vivechna served the dinner and later on cleared the dishes. Very soon everybody retired to bed. While lying on the bed, Smita started wondering that Vivechna no doubt was professionally sound, but on the home front, she was quite weak. On the contrary, her own daughter was quite good professionally as well as with family matters. But that is okay, after all no two persons can be alike. Smita felt proud that she had trained her daughter quite well. Maya could drive her car easily and was equally good in martial arts. However, Smita was not getting the same feeling for her son. It definitely meant, Smita had erred somewhere with regard to Aditya. Nowadays, women folk are working in practically every field hetherto dominated by males only and we feel quite proud about it, but we never teach our sons to learn homely matters. We never train them to cook food on their own nor do we teach them in managing a household in the absence of a female family member. We encourage them to become engineers, doctors, astronauts, etc. but never train them to become a dancer, artist, etc.
Smita was deeply engrossed in her thoughts quite late into the night due to which she got up quite late the next morning. When she came out of the bathroom, Vivechna had already left and Aditya was sitting on the couch going through the day's newspaper. When she entered the kitchen, she noticed milk packets lying unopened. "Why haven't you cooked milk?", she asked her son to which he replied, "the maid will come and do the job." "And what if she doesn't turn up?" "Then I will go out and have something." Smita called him into the kitchen and showed him how to light up the gas stove. She then asked him to keep the milk on the burner and taught him to boil the eggs. "Why are you teaching me all this now?" asked Aditya. Smita replied, "Look, Vivechna is a working woman and is earning as good as you. Income wise she is almost at par with you, then don't you think its your duty to help her manage things at home. On her way home, she gets groceries, vegetables and other food items. Is it only her duty? Why can't you do the same? Even you can get such things when you return, isn't it?" As long as Smita was with them, she kept teaching Aditya about the household matters. She instructed the maid on what food items both Aditya and Vivechna liked and how to cook them.
Evan after Smita left, Vivechna noticed that her house remained neat and tidy when she returned from office. She realized that her mother-in-law had coached Aditya about many things in running the household. This realization made her call Smita and thanked her again and again for making her house a place to enjoy and relax. Earlier the house always remained a mess, but now since Aditya was taking equal interest in household chores, her house truly had become a home.
Smita had decided that she will train her daughter into such a person that she would not have to lead a life that she herself was living. She would make her daughter not only mentally and physically strong but also financially independent too. Just like her son, Aditya, Maya too was brought up with utmost care and full liberty given to her. Even Manoj was showering all his selfless love on her as on Aditya. As a result Maya not only successfully completed her education, but also got herself a good job and settled down well in her family life. This gave immense satisfaction to Smita and it also helped change Manoj's attitude to a much extent. What Smita's love could not achieve was accomplished by Maya's success. Aditya too completed his studies with flying colors and got himself into building up his career. Meanwhile, Smita had come to know about Aditya falling in love with a girl called Vivechna. Aditya had confided everything into his mother. Smita was aware of her responsibility to reveal it to Manoj for which she was waiting for the right opportunity and she did not have to wait too long. The other day Maya's in-laws had come in calling. They were very appreciative of Manoj and Smita's modern views and the way they had brought up Maya and Aditya. After they left, Smita broached the subject of Aditya's marriage. "Have you noticed that Aditya too has reached a marriageable age? We must start thinking in that direction now." "Yes, yes definitely." Then Smita revealed the entire story about Aditya and Vivechna and convinced him that she would be an ideal daughter-in-law. Satisfied that Manoj was convinced, Smita felt more happier than what Aditya did.
Aditya and Vivechna's wedding was carried out with much pomp and show. All the guests appreciated the way the celebrations were held. Soon after the wedding, the newly wedded couple moved to their city of work. Both Aditya and Vivechna were insisting on Manoj and Smita to visit their place. In fact, Vivechna's parents had been their about twice or thrice, but Manoj was finding it difficult to go due to his business commitments. Smita was quite eager to visit her son's home and wanted to experience his lifestyle so Manoj booked her on a flight to the city where the son and daughter-in-law were living. Aditya had come to the airport to receive her. On the way home, Aditya was inquiring about the things back home but Smita was busy in looking at the tall buildings of the metropolis which she had never seen before. When they reached home, the maid opened the door. After making a quick round of the small two-bedroom house, Smita enquired about Vivechna. "Left for office," Aditya replied, "didn't I tell you she leaves for office early. Her reporting time is early in the day and also her office is quite far from here and so returns late. The maid will serve you tea and breakfast and will also prepare food for lunch. Now I have to get ready for office. I will return home after 9. Until then, you can watch TV or read newspapers or just take rest, okay?"
Smita was dejected after looking at the condition of the house. The situation was worse than she had imagined. It was a total mess. There were clothes, books, newspapers scattered all over the place. The table had stains of used cups and glasses. The maid cleared the cups and glasses and cleaned the entire house. When Smita came out of the bathroom the maid had already left and Aditya was ready to leave for office. After Aditya left, Smita started pondering what to do next as she was all alone in the house. She realized that in a house when both husband and wife are working, the place cannot remain in order. Luckily, she had come alone to Aditya's house and Manoj was not accompanying her, otherwise he would have been annoyed finding the place in a mess. After having her breakfast, Smita made herself busy in cleaning up the mess. By the time the sun went down, her son's home was spic and span. She cooked dinner and waited for the son and daughter-in-law to return. Vivechna was the first one to arrive. She touched Smita's feet and did a formal enquiry about her and Manoj's well being. After giving a quick glance at the neat and tidy place, she went into her bedroom. Smita thought for a while about her strange behavior but didn't feel bad about it. A little later Aditya also returned home. He looked happy seeing the neatly decked up house, but got angry with the thought that his mother was busy the whole day making up the place and didn't take rest. Smita smiled at the concern shown by her son and said, "don't worry dear, I was not at all feeling tired and so doing all these things was not a burden for me. I am absolutely feeling fresh. Okay, now go and change and freshen up. Vivechna has already returned. I will make tea for all the three of us." During dinner there was not much talk about anything as such. Vivechna served the dinner and later on cleared the dishes. Very soon everybody retired to bed. While lying on the bed, Smita started wondering that Vivechna no doubt was professionally sound, but on the home front, she was quite weak. On the contrary, her own daughter was quite good professionally as well as with family matters. But that is okay, after all no two persons can be alike. Smita felt proud that she had trained her daughter quite well. Maya could drive her car easily and was equally good in martial arts. However, Smita was not getting the same feeling for her son. It definitely meant, Smita had erred somewhere with regard to Aditya. Nowadays, women folk are working in practically every field hetherto dominated by males only and we feel quite proud about it, but we never teach our sons to learn homely matters. We never train them to cook food on their own nor do we teach them in managing a household in the absence of a female family member. We encourage them to become engineers, doctors, astronauts, etc. but never train them to become a dancer, artist, etc.
Smita was deeply engrossed in her thoughts quite late into the night due to which she got up quite late the next morning. When she came out of the bathroom, Vivechna had already left and Aditya was sitting on the couch going through the day's newspaper. When she entered the kitchen, she noticed milk packets lying unopened. "Why haven't you cooked milk?", she asked her son to which he replied, "the maid will come and do the job." "And what if she doesn't turn up?" "Then I will go out and have something." Smita called him into the kitchen and showed him how to light up the gas stove. She then asked him to keep the milk on the burner and taught him to boil the eggs. "Why are you teaching me all this now?" asked Aditya. Smita replied, "Look, Vivechna is a working woman and is earning as good as you. Income wise she is almost at par with you, then don't you think its your duty to help her manage things at home. On her way home, she gets groceries, vegetables and other food items. Is it only her duty? Why can't you do the same? Even you can get such things when you return, isn't it?" As long as Smita was with them, she kept teaching Aditya about the household matters. She instructed the maid on what food items both Aditya and Vivechna liked and how to cook them.
Evan after Smita left, Vivechna noticed that her house remained neat and tidy when she returned from office. She realized that her mother-in-law had coached Aditya about many things in running the household. This realization made her call Smita and thanked her again and again for making her house a place to enjoy and relax. Earlier the house always remained a mess, but now since Aditya was taking equal interest in household chores, her house truly had become a home.
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