Monetary Worth of a Housewife

"I think a mother deserves the highest respect and when you talk about salary it's not always about cash but I feel it's the love and respect that you give to someone. My mother has always been the biggest inspiration in my life. All mothers sacrifice so much for their kids. So, I think it is the job of a mother that deserves the highest salary,"
- Manushi Chhillar, Miss World 2017 


This reply led few news outlets to come up with back-of-the-envelope salary estimates like this. 
As much as these estimates are ludicrous, they have a few pearls of wisdom. A housewife manages so much yet is always looked down upon by a lot of people. Few feminists, even consider the tasks associated with being a housewife offensive and unworthy of their time. 

Yet we might consider few numbers to get a feel of the issue. 

source : https://goo.gl/9bx576

Let's just add up the seemingly sane numbers and discount the rest

So, a housewife clearly generates 4 Lakhs Rupees per year in an average household. So, are we just letting this value creation go unrewarded? Few might argue that she works for herself too as she is part of the house. So, the value creation inherently enhances her life too. But, that same applies to someone working outside the confines of his/her house. If you work for an MnC, indirectly you are also working for yourself. If the company does well, you will get the trickle-down benefit of it. Of course, the scale is different. Essentially, shall we not credit this much amount of money directly to a homemaker's bank account?

Now, few could question that she gets a lot of monetary benefits implicitly when the husband finances all her expenses. A lot of females might even get lump sum amounts in chunks but that is not in the form of remuneration for her work but a bounty for being a dutiful wife.

A monthly salary which clearly values her work and her time is the thing to practice. This way no feminist could ever think of a housewife in a condescending way. Let's start sending all the housewives this well deserved monthly salary of anything near 35,000/- depending upon your household's condition.

Can we give the end-of-the-month joy of receiving the 'Salary credited SMS' to our homemakers as well?

Book Suggestions Below:
.         
        

My Atthani : '2 States' Movie review

Rating : 8.0/10

Reasons to spend your money : Alia Bhatt, 2 States (Novel), 'Feel-good experience'

You can stay at home if : You would rather buy a DVD 

You would like it if you like :  Chetan Bhagat, Alia Bhatt & Rom-coms with happy ending

You would hate it if you dislike : Chetan Bhagat, Alia Bhatt & Rom-coms [Same as above, yes!]

'2 States' the movie is slightly overstretched in order to accommodate almost everything written in the novel. Nevertheless, it doesn't put you off, just tests your patience.  Barring that, this movie is like a cool breeze you need this summer to ease your mind. It skips the non-sense & highly contrived Bollywood depiction of 'chase for a romantic relationship'. It presents how modern day couples get into a romantic liaison. The only part which could bother you is the 'emotional attyachar' of their parents.

If you seek my word, go for this movie & you'll come out with a smile. 

The Nostalgic Indian Wedding

There are only two kinds of people, one who have got the chance to enjoy Indian wedding and the other kind who wish to enjoy, dance and sing in an Indian wedding.



Switch off your mobile for a week (not quite literally), get away from internet and be offline for 6-7 days (literally), and attend an Indian wedding. This will truly give you more entertainment, knowledge and warmth of friends and relatives than reading this blog or twittering/Facebooking.
Last week my youngest uncle got married and I enjoyed the wedding as described in the above lines. As soon as exams got over, packed my baggage, rushed to my maternal place and guess what? It was a walk down the memory lane, as I experienced many things once again after 5-6 yrs.
Maternal uncles and aunties made my trip worth remembering and nostalgic.
One thing which I love is the craze of an IIT student outside IIT. It is as if you are a local celebrity radiating orgasmic IIT waves all around yourself. I was introduced to every notable person in the wedding with much delight.
A typical introduction would follow like this:
Uncle/Aunt: Hey Ashish! Come here… he is my eldest sister’s eldest son, studies at IIT Kharagpur.
Third person: Wow! Gives an “Aww! You are from IIT” Look and asks if I know his friend’s cousin sister’s daughter’s friend there.

The kids! I don’t know whether to love them, adore them or hate them!
I was with 12 first cousins who were all under 10 and I had to look after them. At times, it was hell but there were moments you simply want to remember for a long time. It feels nice when a kid comes and asks for a hug when scolded by his/her parents. I love them. I was the only matured of all the cousins as other cousins of my age-group had exams and didn’t turn up.

Yeah, the wedding was fantabulous. I was made the photographer by the groom (my uncle) and I messed it all, crap!




I was pampered and given unprecedented importance and even teased that,”I’m next in the queue of eligible bachelors *blushes*”
The thing which you look forward to in such functions is the food and what better than a week of full-relief from stinking hostel mess food. I was fed by my masi (aunty) not once but twice and I ate thrice my tummy ordered for.Her hands added special masalas which were tasted when I was a kid.

"Masi jab apne haathon se khana khilaye toh mazaa hi aaa jata hai!"

The cuisines were hand-licking awesome.
However, I missed out on starting any kind of conversation with few hot girls. The kids kept me busy and the rest of the time was spend helping out my newlywed uncle and aunty as they were to be escorted to various places. I must say my new aunty is a fun-loving girl, I don’t wish to use lady or woman she looks a girl only 4-5 years elder to me.



I have a huge family with 5 maternal uncles and 3 aunties and their kids; more about first cousins in other posts.
I really loved the visit as many old memories got refreshed and I was trapped by nostalgia.

Nuptial Crisis and Modern Indian Marriages

When a film like “What's Your Raashee?” releases, Chetan Bhagat’s new (4th) book’s release date is just a few hours away which draws inspiration from his inter-state love marriage, your youngest uncle finally (yes finally!) is ready to “tie the knot” next month and you have recently turned 21, i.e., now a legally eligible bachelor (*wink*), the most pertinent question which is likely to haunt you could be necessarily related to your marriage. Hence, the result is a fictional account on marriage!

Rajesh, a typical NRI who left India at the age of 21 in pursuit of financial stability and exotic lifestyle after doing his engineering from “BITS Pilani” was worried while returning back to Lucknow after 5 long years. His disturbed mood was due to the pressure from parents’ side to get married soon. Firstly, he was not at all ready for marriage and secondly, he didn’t have much faith in the institution of arranged marriage in India which was his only route to get married so soon as he haven’t dated a single girl in his life including his 5 year of stay at United States.

Scene of “Modern Arranged Marriage” in India:
A girl/boy is found through some so-called reliable sources like matchmaker, matrimonial sites, or even relatives and friends. Till this point, it’s completely comprehensible but the real problem starts now. The girl/boy in consideration should be of same caste, different clan (Gotra) and preferably of same state too. After these two screening stages, an astrologist is consulted to match the horoscopes of the prospective bride and groom and after a green signal from the expert the parents fix an almost blind date in which the boy and girl have to give a final agreement or reject the proposal. The matching of horoscopes could also be done after the approval of both the sides.
This weird looking algorithm to arranged marriage really skewed Rajesh’s belief about the traditional marriage in India. However, he also wanted to have a partner to fulfil his physical and emotional cravings so he agreed.

Why against “Arranged Marriage”?
Educated youth like Rajesh not necessarily NRI’s do find arranged marriage strange but lack the guts and conviction to revolt against the wishes of parents and succumb to the emotional pressure. They simply don’t like the whole complex procedure of marriage, in which clan, caste, state and some imaginary concept like horoscope is prioritised much higher than the compatibility of boy and girl.

Why “Love marriage” is not an option?
There is a concept called maturity and lack of experience. Supporters of “Arranged Marriage” argue that people in their 20s are not matured enough to use their inadequate experience to choose the right bride/groom. There is one more concept of “surprises and new experiences”. They say when people don’t know each other before marriage, everything is new in marriage and each day brings surprises which strengthens the nuptial bond compared to “Love Marriage” in which there is no such surprise as they say!

However, I say “are maturity and experience that important”? Haven’t they heard that “Experience is a comb which life gives us when we are bald”?... In metropolitan India, teenagers are generally well aware about their career-plans, so are able to convince their parents in contrast to sub-urban and rural folks. This is where the actual problem lies!

That “surprises and new experiences” concept could also turn a nightmare to deal with as all surprises and new experiences are not pleasant.

BTW, how could I forget to mention the witty sugarcane analogy?
Sometimes, parents are equally wise enough to convince their sons/daughters to take the path of “Arranged Marriage”. The sugarcane analogy goes like this. The sugarcane is meatiest and sweetest at the bottom and loses its thickness and sweetness as we go up, and in love marriages it’s like eating the sugarcane from the bottom. So, it feels very romantic and perfect at the beginning but gradually differences start coming and it is similar to chewing the tasteless thin sugarcane which is only water at the top. In arranged marriage, it is the reverse and surprisingly it works for most of the Indian couples!



So, Rajesh was confused and was going through what we call “Pre marital blues”.



Rajesh tweeted: I don’t want to marry :(

Shriya replied: @Rajesh what happened?

Rajesh: @Shriya “Arranged Marriage sucks” and I don’t have a girlfriend :(

Shriya: @Rajesh heeheee!

Rajesh: @Shriya don’t laugh, help me with some ideas to escape this mess

(Phone Rings!)

Rajesh picked up the call. “Hey! How are you?” Shriya asked. Rajesh shared the
problem with her and Shriya said “Don’t worry! I’m coming to Lucknow in 3 days; we’ll sort out the problem. Bye! Take Care!” Shriya comforted Rajesh as he went back to his laptop.

Shriya tweeted: uploaded new photos @orkut (link).

Rajesh as every other internet user clicked the link but left the tab open and went to attend the call of nature.

Rajesh’s mother entered the room and looked at Shriya and found nobody in the room. She left the room shouting “Rajesh! Rajesh!”...

Rajesh sees her pictures and immediately memories of childhood started coming to him in flashes.

After 3 Days...

Rajesh and Shriya are talking at Rajesh’s room. Shriya tries to put some “desi-gyaan” into Rajesh’s thought process. Shriya sensed it all was going in vain.
“Do you love anyone? Crushes?” Shriya finally asked the most important question.
“No” Rajesh replied in a plaintive voice.
“I think you are in the wrong place then” Shriya tried to make some good logic
“Are you ready for marriage?” Shriya asked annoyingly
“Don’t know” Rajesh was getting more confused.

The whole conversation was being heard by Rajesh’s mother...

What followed next...?


Any guesses?

.....

To cut the long story short, Rajesh’s mother and father met Shriya’s parents, discussed all the matters. As a matter of coincidence, Shriya and Rajesh are of different clans and of same castes with matching horoscopes. Initially, Rajesh hesitated but soon his feelings for his first crush came to fore and he fell in love with Shriya.
Rajesh and Shriya lived happily ever after...

Lesson learnt:
It is either love or arranged, marriages are made in heaven. So, both have equal odds of succeeding. Ideally, one should leave everything to his/her fate and use his heart and a little bit of wisdom.
As with Rajesh and Shriya, your love could very well be arranged...



If interested in reading further, click on these links for articles:
1.A modern guide to arranged marriages

2. Pre Marital Blues

3.First Comes Marriage, Then Comes Love

PS: I don't know what will be the reaction of my family members after reading this post.

PS: God Save Me!

Entrepreneurship- The Latest Fashion Trend

Recently, I was talking with one of my cousins, who is planning his marriage. We were having that casual phone conversation...

Cousin: Hey, I’ve mailed you some photos of girls. Did you get them?

Me: Yeah! Do you expect me to hook up with them... no I won’t, I’m single and not ready to mingle.

Cousin: Dumb @#$@# %%.....( all the foul words)... they are photos which I’ve received for marriage proposal.

Me: (Ooopss...shit) Sorry.

Cousin: Just say which one of them is the best and the rest are all yours....haa haaa. BTW I forgot you have a girlfriend. How is she?

Me: First of all, I don’t have a girlfriend and second point is that I’m going to do arrange marriage that too after 4-5 years as I’m under-age and under-qualified.

Cousin: Why? Why this sudden change? I know, you have realised the fact that no girl would be your girlfriend.

Me: Actually, I’ll take Dowry.



(I know it’s illegal but still the police won’t be able to catch me, as my blog is not so popular and when I’ll marry this post will be deleted.)

Cousin: Oh My God... Do you guys talk these stuffs at your college?

Me: Entrepreneurship, Bro!

Cousin: Pursuing entrepreneurship is tougher than pronouncing and spelling it, dude!

(How true!!!)

Me: Ummm...yup.

Cousin: Let me give some entrepreneurship-Gyan.
Nowadays, entrepreneurship has become a fashion statement. In late 1980s and early 1990s, people did engineering and went to USA. After some economic reforms there was a shift in trend from this to IT-sector and management. Now, all the young people want to have their own venture and become an entrepreneur.
Becoming an entrepreneur is certainly not rocket science but much more than that. I have many friends who took this path and only 1 of them had some appreciable success in his venture.

Things you should have before pondering about any entrepreneurial thoughts...
1. Idea: Ideas don’t rain like cats and dogs. Yeah! It doesn’t rain at all.

2. Capital: You need lot of money dude and unless you are having a great idea related to computers you won’t get any venture capitalist to fund you. However, if in any case they do agree to fund you, it is not a new fact that they would have a major chunk of power in your venture.

3. Co-founder/s: Finding a co-founder is important and also very difficult. As the famous saying goes, “Fast bowlers hunt in pairs” so does founders. (Read a very interesting article on co-founders by Shrey from here)

4. Self-motivation: It is apparently needed for anything you do in life but still I can’t miss this point as you will face many challenges if you pursue entrepreneurship and you must be highly motivated to face them.

5. Time: You should be prepared to give your major part of youth to become a worthy entrepreneur and it also demands patience.

Enough for today!!!

Me: Okay! I won’t take dowry...

Cousin: hee hee...

Me: Cya...Take care

Cousin: Bye