You have constrained your life between these four walls. How many times have I asked you to change, to grow? Work for a bank, so that my burden will decrease. And now you are picking out flaws from those who are moving with time and are progressive.
Ever since Gauri’s father-in-law passed away; his empty room would torment her. Once her husband Anuj left in the morning, he would only return in the night. She could not handle being alone at home anymore. Her father-in-law’s room had an attached bathroom and a kitchen. After pondering over it, they decided to give it for rent. Anyway, a commercial area like Noida always received tenants who willingly paid high rent. Hence, they put up a poster on their colony’s grocery store. On seeing that poster, Pakhi entered their gates. Chewing gum in her mouth, high heels, progressive attitude and her eyes looked around with carelessness. She was very cool in disposition. She was an executive at a multinational company.
“Look, I've various shifts; I don’t have fixed working hours and I might return late at night. If you have a problem with it, let me know as soon as possible. The previous place I was residing in, they had a problem with me coming back late at night. People with middle-class mentality link a girl’s late arrival to her character,” said Pakhi.
Gauri couldn’t believe her ears, Pakhi completely ignored Gauri’s presence and was conversing with Anuj and she did not like it one bit. As if she wasn’t worth being spoken to… According to Gauri, since Pakhi is a girl, she should be enquiring with Gory and not her husband.
“No no, we do not have a problem, anyway; the room has a separate staircase.”
“I need a parking spot for my car, I am ready to pay extra for it.” said
Pakhi carelessly.
Gauri was contemplating…She has pride over her money…She lives alone, returns late at night, she is just a mere girl and now she drives car, to top it all look at her tantrums. Why is Anuj being so pleasant with her? Why won’t he let her go, and her stay is not going to relieve me of anything but in fact; my tension will aggravate.
“We have a two-wheeler; you can park at our spot.”
“There is a kitchen as well.”
“Well, I won’t require that. I don’t know how to cook. I eat out.”
What kind of a girl is she? She is grown-up and doesn’t know how to cook food; my mother had taught me everything by the time I reached tenth grade. What will she do when she goes to her in-law’s place? These girls wind up with a divorce…Gauri continued pondering over her thoughts.
Anuj was prepared for Pakhi’s stay even after Gauri’s attempts of changing his mind, “What is wrong with her? She is well educated and is a working woman.”
“But she stays out at night for a long time…?”
“Hey, what is wrong with that? Nowadays, multinational companies have night shifts. Work goes on for twenty-four hours. It’s the same for all the staff, whether you are a girl or a boy.”
“But…” Gauri was not satisfied.
“Enough forget it. It might not happen in your small town, but here in the city; it is very normal. You have constrained your life between these four walls. How many times have I asked you to change, to grow? Work for a bank, so that my burden will decrease. And now you are picking out flaws from those who are moving with time and are progressive.” said Anuj. He fell asleep but Gauri’s sleep was miles away from her.
What is the point of working? That is what men do, why should I work? How do I balance both home and work? Gauri lied down.
Pakhi shifted to their place. Her carefree and cool attitude got onto Gauri’s nerves. Without Anuj's knowledge, she used to keep her eyes and ears alert and on Pakhi. The time she left, the time she returned, her attire…etc. Pakhi was aware of this situation and was even hurt because of Gauri’s attitude but she overlooked it. Gauri would then misunderstand this characteristic of Pakhi to be arrogance.
One day, while Gauri was preparing food, all of a sudden she heard Anuj’s loud cries. She ran towards him. Anuj had slipped in the bathroom and he had an unbearable back pain. He could not get himself to stand up. Gauri somehow managed to support him and helped him onto his bed. The pressure blocked her mind and she couldn’t think through as to what to do in the situation.
“Gauri, I think it is serious, we’ll have to go to the hospital.”
Gauri got out of her house to hail an auto for her husband, Pakhi was leaving for her workplace at that moment and looking at Gauri’s concerned look, asked her, “ What happened? Is there a problem?”
Gauri told Pakhi about Anuj and Pakhi’s face tightened.
“If he is in such a difficult situation, then why would you take him in an auto-rickshaw? Come on, let’s go in my car. He can lie down in the back seat.” Gauri was not in a position to argue and she agreed promptly. Both of them supported Anuj till the car and they left for the hospital.
Anuj got admitted to the hospital, it was a matter of slipped disc. Gauri was frightened and was not aware of how to go about the hospital formalities. All the formalities were being done by Pakhi. She handled the situation with such ease and was very responsible. When it came to bill payment, Gauri realized that in the heat of the moment she had forgotten to get sufficient money. She thought of going back home to get money but Pakhi offered to pay and said, “There is no need of going back home, don’t be tensed, for now, I shall pay with my debit card and later withdraw some money from the ATM; it might be of some use to you.” Gauri stood there in awe, and Pakhi did all the arrangements, left her with information on where the canteen is, and where the pharmacy is. After helping Gauri out with everything, she left for office and said that she would come back in the evening.
Gauri was still and shell-shocked. The girl that she had nil respect for, the girl whom she called spoilt and careless, the same girl was nothing less than a goddess to her. She was calm, responsible, and soft in such a heated situation and paid thousands of rupees. She did not waste a minute to think, a relative wouldn’t do the same that she did…
On one hand, Gauri was feeling quite timid in front of Pakhi and on the other hand, a bell rang in her head and she recalled what Anuj told her, “Gauri, please learn something, till when are you going to continue depending on me. Forget the bank; you are not aware of the operation of an ATM machine. At the least, stay back at home and learn to use the internet. Nowadays, bill payments and bookings take place online.” But nothing went inside the ears of an adamant housewife. Gauri was brought up in a household where the duty of the father was to work and that of the mother was to stay at home and take care of the household. She used to spend her time watching TV or lazing around at the neighbour’s place. At this point of her life, she felt the tremors, the stark reality of the situation. Gauri was wondering how she would handle the situation if Pakhi hadn’t come to her rescue.
Pakhi visited the hospital both in the mornings and the evenings and on the way bought necessities. She kept an eye on his progress and enquired with the doctor regarding Anuj’s health. It came to such a point wherein, the doctor considered her as the one responsible and gave her the needed feedback, because everything went over Gauri’s head. Anuj was discharged after a week and was asked to take bed rest for two months. On that particular day, Pakhi took a day off from work and completed all the hospital formalities and got Anuj back from the hospital in her car. After the incident, Anuj and Gauri were obliged to Pakhi. Regardless of what they felt, Pakhi handled the situation with ease and no pride.
Once, when Pakhi was driving back home, she noticed Gauri on the way.
“Are you going someplace? Come on, I’ll drop you off.”
“Actually, I am going to the railway station to reserve seats for my parents, as they want to visit Anuj.”
“But why are you frightened?”
Gauri kept wiping her forehead with her saree’s pallu and this did not go unnoticed by Pakhi.
“I have never done this by myself, that’s the reason why I’m a little nervous.” After looking at
Gauri’s condition, Pakhi couldn’t help but giggle and said, “Why are you nervous? It is nothing to be worried about.”
“Anuj says the same. I have never stepped outside my house to see the world. I figured that, with Anuj in my life, I wouldn’t have to learn anything. But after what took place a few weeks back, I realized how wrong I was. In the current generation, a duty of a housewife is not completed by only sitting at home and taking control of the household. It is supposed to be both ways. At the moment, Anuj is bed-ridden; today I realized how hopeless and worthless I am. Even after being educated I am not as successful as you…”
On hearing this, Pakhi pulled the breaks and took a U-turn.
“Where are you going? I need to get a reservation…”
“We are going back home to get the reservation done. Look, whatever you are going to the railway station for is something that can be done online with the help of the internet. You can complete your task without waiting in long queue.
“What!” Gauri’s eyes widened.
“But I don’t know how to use it.”
“Look, this day onwards, I will teach you everything that you aren’t aware of, just so that you don’t feel timid and useless. But, in turn you will have to do something for me.”
“What is that?”
“I’m not sure whether you remember when I went back home for a few days. Actually, I am engaged. The marriage is going to be held next year and now I am petrified as I don’t know how I am going to take care of the house after marriage. I have never learnt anything along those lines and if I marry without learning or knowing, then I’ll end up like you feeling hopeless and worthless. So the deal is that we can take our time and teach each other about our shortcomings. You teach me how to handle the important details of house and kitchen and I will teach you everything that is related to the outside world. This way, both us will become perfect women…” said Pakhi, whilst she imitated Madhuri Dixit.
Gauri burst out laughing.
The process of learning and teaching that began on that day continues till date. Currently the house is not occupied by a working woman and a housewife, but is occupied by PERFECT WOMEN.
—Deepti Mittal
