The news of Anmol’s resignation spread like wildfire in the entire office. Nobody was able to assimilate the news. Such a decent position, such a generous salary, so many perks – how could he kick so easy and comfortable money – a dream of many. Where could anyone get such a decent job? Thoughts like these were hovering in the minds of one and all at Anmol’s office.
During lunchtime, his special friends came to his cabin and asked him the reason for his sudden resignation, “Has something happened at the office that we aren’t aware of? Has there been some politics or conspiracy? Have you been trapped in some false case? What happened, Anmol? Why resignation?”
He smiled and asked all his well-wisher friends to settle down. He ordered tea and samosa for all.
Then he informed, “Actually, my wife Neeta had done a course in Fashion Designing. She had been doing small projects from home for a long time. But now, she has got a chance to work with a famous fashion designer in Mumbai. The salary is more than what I am getting here. She would get the opportunity to travel the world. I don’t want her to lose this chance – her dream job. So we are shifting to Mumbai. And this is the reason for my resignation.”
“Our office doesn’t have any branch in Mumbai, that’s why you had to put down your papers?” His friend Sagar asked.
“Don’t tell me that you are quitting such a lucrative job for the sake of your wife’s career“, another friend Aman expressed his surprise.
“What about kids and their education? You will have to find schools for them also. It won’t be that easy. Have you given it a proper thought?” quipped a concerned friend.
“I know you have exceptionally promising qualifications and experience, but won’t it be a pain in the neck to start all over again: preparing a resume, facing interviews and finding a job. Do you want to do this?” one more colleague implored.
“Relax buddies, relax“, Anmol was bewildered by so many questions being hurled at him.
He asked his colleagues to have their samosas and tea. He too wet his throat with some water.
Then he continued, “I am not going to work at any office in Mumbai. Neeta will go to work and I will take care of the house, the kids and give wings to my passion for art. Till now, she had been doing small projects from home and taking care of the home. Now I will do art projects from home and take care of the home. Role reversal you know â€, Anmol expressed his views.
Hearing this, some choked on their tea and some sat dumbfounded. It was like he had exploded some kind of bomb.
After a brief silence, a colleague asked, “You mean a homemaker, you will become a homemaker: cooking, cleaning, kids, their studies and all?“
Anmol proudly enlightened “Yes, my friends. And frankly speaking, I want to take up this challenge. I have earned a lot all through my life. Now, I want to spend time at home with my kids and my passion. With a job, I got little or no time for them.“
“Are you serious? Will your wife respect you the same way she had been doing all these years? She will make you dance on her fingers if she becomes the earning member” one male chauvinist pi* blurted.
“C’mon friends, don’t talk rubbish. Does respect come with money even between spouses? If Neeta wasn’t earning till now, had I no respect for her. Don’t you people respect your homemaker wives? Do you people make your homemaker wives dance on your fingers? If yes, then it’s a shame. What kind of world are you living in guys? Break your stereotypes that man earns and the woman stays at home. It’s a time of equality” Anmol was feeling embarrassed at the thoughts of his colleagues.
“Yaar, you are feeling enthusiastic now but later, your male ego will crush you down when you will realize that you are living on your wife’s money”, a colleague tried to put his viewpoint.
“Hey, when a man earns money and takes it home, does it mean that the woman is living upon the man’s earnings? Husband and wife are like the two wheels of a two-wheeler. Both are equally indispensable for the proper running of the household. In some houses, the man earns and the woman takes care of the house. In many houses, both earn together and meet the expenses together.
So what is the harm if we change this a bit where the woman earns and the man takes care of the whole house” said Anmol, keeping his side.
“Yaar, ye Ki & Ka na filmo mein hi achcha lagta hai, asal zindagi mein nahi”, one of the colleagues told his conclusion.
“I have no shame in taking care of household chores and responsibilities by staying at home. Neeta has sacrificed her dreams for many years for my dreams, now it is my turn. I will not hold back no matter what anyone says. I am proud of Neetaâ€, Anmol said and walked out of his cabin where he was feeling suffocated amongst his colleagues and their thought process.
He wanted to break the stereotype which made earning and taking care of household chores gender-specific roles.
