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After Shweta left, Disha sat at the table all alone. "It's okay if I couldn't have momos today, I can eat them some other time," Disha said to herself and smiled...
After Shweta left, Disha sat at the table all alone. “It’s okay if I couldn’t have momos today, I can eat them some other time,” Disha said to herself and smiled…
Disha and her family were having dinner at home when the doorbell rang. “Ohh! It must be Shweta bhabhi with her pasta. Rounak had called me up about it!” Disha’s husband Chetan said looking at her.
Disha stood up to open the door leaving her half-eaten food on the table. It was indeed their new neighbour Shweta at the door. “Hi, I baked some pasta and Rounak asked me to get some for you guys. He said Chetan bhaiya loves pasta.”
“Yes, he does….Thank you so much bhabhi. Please come in.” Disha said in her usual cheerful manner. “No, no I will be leaving. It’s dinner time at home,” replied Shweta.
“That’s okay bhabhi. Please come in for a while. We are having momos for dinner tonight. Won’t you like to taste?” Disha insisted. Shweta hesitantly came in. She joined the others at the table and Disha served her some momos.
Just then Disha’s 3yr old son started pulling her. “Mommy, poo time,” he said indicating that he wanted to use the washroom. Disha hurriedly seated him on the toilet seat and came back to serve the others. She then returned to her son. When she got back to the table the others were almost done.
“Please pack some momos for Rounak bhaiya,” Chetan said to her. Though Shweta kept refusing, Disha packed the remaining momos and gave it to her.
After Shweta left, Disha sat at the table all alone, and ate some pasta as the momos were over. It tasted good. “It’s okay if I couldn’t have momos today, I can eat them some other time,” Disha said to herself and smiled…
Disha’s story is not heroic nor unique. It’s an ordinary story of an ordinary woman in an ordinary family.
Why is it that if the entire family is in the middle of a meal, it’s the wife/daughter-in-law who answers the doorbell?
Why is it that the wife/daughter-in-law is the last person to eat?
Why is it that while the rest of the family eats together, she is mostly left alone at the table?
Why is it that every time a dish falls short, it’s the woman in the family who goes without eating it?
Why is it that though a wife serves dinner to her husband with love, the husband doesn’t usually care about what she has eaten or will be eating?
Why is it that in almost every household the child is the responsibility of the mother?
When a woman goes through all this, she thinks that she wouldn’t let it happen to her daughter-in-law. But by the time she becomes a mother-in-law herself, she doesn’t care anymore…
It’s high time we stand up for ourselves and our fellow women. We as women need to eradicate these shortcomings in our system and make small changes. Only then can we bring about a larger change in society.
If women have been the victim of patriarchy for centuries, it’s also us women who will smash it one day!
Image source: a still from Hindi short film Ghar ki Murgi
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