Uncertain liaisons

THE RAISON D'ÊTRE FOR THIS BOOK WAS OBVIOUS-IT WAS
overdue. Many years ago, a businessman confided in 'me,
"These days it's far more difficult to find a good servant than
a well-trained wife... and frankly, I'd settle for the former any
day.' He looked genuinely distressed. I was naïve enough to
feel alarmed by such a remark way back then. Before I could
get all huffy and puffy, his wife nudged me and whispered,
'Forget it... ignore him ... my husband is stupid enough and
drunk enough to be honest ... but basically all Indian men feel
that way.' I asked her why she didn't rebel against being
compared to an efficient domestic servant or appliance. She
shrugged noncommittally.
This was twenty years ago. But even today, a wife's status
is little more than that of a servant in most Indian homes. A
servant without salary or sick leave at that. But whereas a
disobedient domestic can be fired and a dissatisfied one can
walk out of a job and seek fresh employment, a wife is really
and truly stuck in a 'like it or lump it' situation. Plus, she is
often forced to sleep with the boss.