Biodata of A Housewife
By JIRARA
© JIRARA, March 2021
Published by JIRARA on matrubharti.com
All rights reserved. No parts of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, for any commercial purposes without the prior permission of the author and/or publisher.
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Disclaimer: This is the work of fiction as far as all the characters, their names and the names of all the events are concerned and all these are imaginary and hence any resemblance to the persons (and their lives) dead or alive, and any places are coincidental. Even if a few events might look realistic/’real’, these are fictionalised and the associated names are changed in order to maintain their privacy, honour, and security. No intention whatsoever is meant to hurt any feelings of whosoever, irrespective of their personal/cultural beliefs, social or political inclinations, religion-orientations/practicing/philosophy, life styles, and work/business. The ‘I’, ‘my’, ‘me’, and ‘mine’ (if any used) do not necessarily mean the author of this book, and these and other such pronouns: her, hers, his, he, she, him, you, your, yours, ours, theirs…; are used for effective personification and dramatization, and the readers should not take these on their ‘own persons’.
The readers should take these stories/verses/thoughts with/in good spirit. The presented ideas and material are based, where feasible, on readings and (thought-) analyses of scientific/other open literature (which seemed most profound and trustworthy), with as much care as possibly taken. The readers are requested to verify these notions on their own, and use their own discretion. However, these stories/verses/thoughts/ideas (mostly original) are expressed here with an intention of increasing awareness of the readers with a hope that in an overall sense, their (and ours) consciousness would be heightened (in all and multiple directions), so that we all can live our lives on this planet with true happiness, ever-lasting peace and real joy (irrespective of our orientations). The author and the publisher will not be responsible for any negative effects/situations arising as a result of reading these stories/verses and/or following the suggestions if any; and no discussions/dispute of any kind will be entertained at any time and in any way, manner, and/or forum; because the dictum is that if you like(-d) you read, otherwise ignore, what is the point in making a fuss about it?; anyway you are independent to judge the messages in the stories and utilize for your benefits if found useful, since here the idea is in the direction of ‘consciousness raising’. JRARA.
Preamble: Part A and B are sort of satires (Vyang/Kataaksh), so you should read these from that point of view; of course certain observations look very realistic and must be based on some facts occurring in (Indian/Asian, may be elsewhere too) societies. Part C is self-explanatory.
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Part A:
Biodata of A Housewife
Name: Whichever, whatever, what difference does it make?
Birth: Unwelcome as a daughter!
Age: Can take it any number above 49!
Address:
First father’s house, present husband’s house,
later on son’s house, or old-age home.
Speciality:
According to the father: a bright daughter,
According to the mother: ‘unconcerned’ (careless),
According to the mother-in-law: spoiled the life of (my) son,
According to the husband: orthodox,
According to the grown up son/daughter: leave it, you won’t understand anything,
According to her own self: (I) don’t know.
Work profile:
House work: for last 30 years,
Kitchen: for last 30 years,
Cleaning and mopping: for last 30 years,
Washing and Vessels: for last 30 years,
To take care of the family members,
Relatives and guests: for last 30 years.
Children: two (their birth, raring, caring, education, and training), e.g.:
Breast-feeding: 1 year,
Diapering: 3 year,
Taught: to walk, to speak, to learn, and helped in their homeworks,
And during their sickness, and examinations spent sleepless nights,
Her needs: two meals, a few clothes,
Somewhat better dresses/ornaments for/during the festivals,
To show better impression of the family.
Expectations: None.
Compensation: None.
Income: None.
Savings: None.
If the money is needed: To be asked from the husband or the son,
That to, it is necessary to explain why the amount was/is needed;
That to will be made available if they are in the mood of giving, and
That too with lot of advices/suggestions as to why ever,
She needed the money.
Her personal difficulties: Ration on talking/telling,
And if tells anything that will not be listened to,
And if listened, they would easily forget.
Appreciation in the house/family: None, so what?, that to she had to do,
Are the beliefs and comments from all the members.
Unwritten rule: If I have to go out, I have to inform and go…because a woman am I?
And even then, always I have to compulsorily keep smiling,
To depict and show the ‘good’ of the family, and because the others,
Should/do not dub me as an ‘egoist’!!
(By JIRARA in English, based on the quotes/description in Gujarati, ‘#’)
***
Part B:
(#):
***બાયોડેટા - એક હાઉસવાઈફનો (Gruhini)***
*નામ* - કોઈ પણ રાખો, શું ફરક પડે છે?
*જન્મ* - દિકરી તરીકે અણગમતો આવકાર
*ઉંમર* - ૪૯થી ઉપર કોઈ પણ આંકડો ધારી લો.
*સરનામું-*
- પહેલા પિતાનું ઘર,
- હાલમાં પતિનું
- ભવિષ્યમાં દીકરાનું ઘર કે કદાચ ઘરડાઘર
*વિશેષતા* - બાપની દ્રષ્ટિએ તેજસ્વી દીકરી
- મા ની દ્રષ્ટિએ નફકરી
- સાસુની દ્રષ્ટિએ દીકરાની જિંદગી બગાડી
- વરની દ્રષ્ટિએ જૂનવાણી ને ફૂવડ
- મોટા થયેલા દિકરા/દિકરીની દ્રષ્ટિએ રહેવા દે તને કંઈ ખબર નહીં પડે
- પોતાની દ્રષ્ટિએ - ખબર નથી
*કાર્યાનુભવ*
- ઘરકામ..... ૩૦ વર્ષથી
- રસોડું..... ૩૦ વર્ષથી
- ઝાડુ પોતા..... ૩૦ વર્ષથી
- કપડા વાસણ..... ૩૦ વર્ષથી
- ઘરના સભ્યો, સગા વ્હાલા અને મહેમાનોને સાચવવાના.......૩૦ વર્ષથી
*બાળકો* - નંગ બે (તેમને જન્મ, ઉછેર, ભણતર, ગણતર વગેરે વગેરે)
જેમ કે --
દૂધ પાયું - ૧ વર્ષ
બાળોતિયાં બદલ્યાં - ૩ વર્ષ
-ચાલતા શીખવ્યું, બોલતા શીખવ્યું, ભણતા શીખવ્યું, હોમવર્ક કરાવ્યું.
-માંદગીમાં ને પરીક્ષા વખતે ઉજાગરા કર્યા વગેરે વગેરે......
*જરૂરિયાત* -બે ટાઈમ ખાવાનું,
-થોડા ઘણા કપડા,
-વાર - તહેવારે ને પ્રસંગે થોડા
-ભારે કપડા - દાગીના કુટુંબનું
-સારું લાગે એટલા માટે🌲
*અપેક્ષા* - કંઈ નહીં
*વળતર* - કંઈ નહીં..
*આવક* - કંઈ નહીં..
*બચત* - કંઈ નહીં..
*પૈસાની જરૂરિયાત માટે*
- પતિ કે દિકરાની પાસે માંગવાના અને એ પણ વિગતવાર જરૂરિયાત શી છે એ સમજાવવું જરૂરી.
પછી પણ એ લોકોનો મૂડ હોય તો મળે અને સાથે બહુ બધી શિખામણો સાથે કે તારે શી જરૂર છે વગેરે વગેરે.
*પોતાની મુશ્કેલીઓ* - કહેવાની મનાઈ. કહો તો કોઈ સાંભળે નહીં કે પછી સાંભળીને ભૂલી જાય.
*ઘર કુટુંબમાં કદર* - કંઈ નહીં.. એમાં શું ? એ તો એણે કરવાનું જ હોયને એવી બધાની માન્યતા અને કૉમેન્ટ્સ.
*વણલખ્યો નિયમ* : ઘરમાંથી બહાર જવું હોય તો કહીને જવાનું... ઓરત છું ને!
*અને છતાં કાયમ ફરજીયાત હસતા તો રહેવાનું જ કારણ ઘર અને કુટુંબનું સારૂ દેખાડવા અને લોકો અભિમાની ન ગણે તે માટે !!*
*... સાચે જ સ્ત્રી મહાન છે ...
From: Anaami (અનનોન, unknown).
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Part C:
An inspiring poem addressed to a housewife sent by a close friend:
Dearest Aunty,
Many many happy returns of the day!
You are literally the sweetest,
Most thoughtful person I know.
Thank you for being such a radiant, brilliant joy,
In my world and to the people in your life.
Have a most beautiful birthday filled,
With joy, love, laughter and everything,
That your heart desires,
You deserve that all.
Lots of love today, and always.
(From: Radhika, M.; Management specialist,
Job-career counsellor, and a poet).
*****
