Remumeration to home-makers as govt policy. For or against
Agniv Pathak
As the groaning of the alarm clock breaks the stillness of a lazy Sunday morning, Sunidhi wakes up quietly fixing her side of the bed, thinking about all the chores she has to perform today. She quickly tied her hair into a bun, picked up the newspaper, made breakfast and tea for her father-in-law before he goes out for his morning walk, watered her garden, arranged the medicines and then patiently waited for her husband and son to wake up. Everyday it’s the same grind for her. A beautiful smell of Alu bhajji suddenly tickled her nostrils. “Maybe Neha is making Alu bhajji for breakfast”, she thought. The thought was almost spontaneous as Neha is her next-door neighbor and Sunidhi knew that her daughter loved Alu bhajji for breakfast. Like a lonesome stream traversing the rough earth to meet the ocean, tears started rolling down her wrinkled cheeks. “When was the last time anyone cooked my favorite dish?”, she thought.
There are millions of women just like Sunidhi and Neha. The silent warriors whom we call “The Home-Makers”. The first thought that comes to my mind when I hear the term “Home-Maker” is sacrifice. We all need to understand that no one aspires to become a home maker. It takes a lot of grit to become one as I feel it’s the hardest job in the world. You work tirelessly day and night without getting anything in return. The worst part is you don’t have a holiday and most of the time your work goes unnoticed. People take you for granted. I strongly believe that remuneration to homemakers would hardly do justice to the tremendous amount of work they do all year round. More than remuneration what they deserve is respect and kindness from her family members as well as the society. It is not a job or a profession that demands payment but it is service that demands respect. We should all understand that they have invested their whole life for the sake of their family. They smothered their own dreams and aspirations so that we can live ours. Do you think just a mere renumeration would do enough? We all look forward to having rice puddings (payesh) on our birthdays but do we ever bother to cook one for our mother/wife on their birthday? The answer is “No”. Its because we have taken them for granted. A mere monetary renumeration can never fix that.
Instead of devaluing them by monetizing their services let us for once acknowledge them. Let us hug our mothers/wives and thank them for slogging day and night without any complaint. The term ‘Home-maker’ is not only relegated to the women alone, we all can be home-makers. Let us divide the chores among ourselves or do them at least once or twice a week. Let us cook payesh for them on their birthdays. Let us for once make our own bed, prepare our own breakfast, arrange the medicines and water the plants so that home-makers like Sunidhi doesn’t have to worry about them anymore. In the end that would go a long way in boosting their sense of pride and confidence than just a mere remuneration. Their service is beyond any monetary value. A few lines before I conclude……..
“Her son forgot to tie his lace, A simple test he could not ace,
The food was bland it had no taste, her husband spat it and left in haste.
The books lay scattered like her dreams, the running tap smothered her screams.
Her tired eyes and lined forehead, speaks of words that can’t be said.
Let us for once mend her bruise, and walk a mile in her shoes,
Only then can we understand what it takes, to give so much and care so less