Ours is an ancient culture. It comprises of innumerable traditions, customs, beliefs and many more things. We are proud of our traditions and it is essential to carry forward the several traits that had been handed down the generations.
However, at the same time, one has to keep it in mind that times have changed, times are changing with each passing moment. So, everything that had so far been always done in a particular way, may not essentially hold true any more.
(Here we can state the example of of family planning. It was always believed that children are God's gift and more the number of children, more addition to the family finance. But the bursting population and ever rising inflation rate proved this wrong. Now, in a family which is already below the poverty-line, giving birth to more children would mean gifting them a life of starvation, illiteracy and misery, at the birth itself.)
In the same manner, many old things or traditions need to be revised, changed.
Long time ago, the domains for men and women were clear-cut and totally separate. The men took care of everything outside the house and shouldered the responsibility of looking after family's financial needs. Women took care of all the tasks within the four walls of the house.
As the bread-winner and care-taker of the family, the men attained more importance. Carrying the same line of thought further, the boys or male children of the family were perceived as future supporters or pillars of family. Thus they were given importance similar to that of the man of the house and were groomed accordingly.
Things changed over the centuries, but these traditions continued in the same way. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it is my observation that men of the family generally do not interfere into the matters like which household skills should be taught to the boys and which one to the girls. It is generally the grandmothers and mothers who pamper the male child as the future man-of-the-house and are shocked at the thought of boys as much as touching any household chore like cooking, cleaning or washing.
But they cannot be blamed either; because they are just following whatever they had seen, heard and experienced throughout their own lives.
Probably this the reason why even today's working women carry the traces of these beliefs at the back of their minds. So somewhere deep down they continue to feel a slight guilt that they are neglecting their family and home -- and this, when they are daily slogging in the outside world for eight-nine hours for that same family.
This is what I mean by deep-rooted beliefs or thoughts. Over the ages, these things have seeped to such depth inside the psyche of out society, that mammoth efforts would be required to uproot these and implant some fresh ones.
Now a great name like Proctor & Gamble has taken the pioneering step in this direction. But everyone has to add his/her bit to it. A mindset like 'This is social issue, what I alone can do to change it?', would not be of any help.
Remember the squirrel amongst the monkeys who built the bridge for Sri Ram? She didn't say that I'm so tiny, how could I be of any help? She rolled in the sand, went over towards the stones of the bridge and shook off the sand to fill the gaps in the stones. She did her bit -- and so should each one of us.
We are lucky that our next generation doesn't follow everything blindly; they think, they ask questions and seek answers. They do not hesitate to change whatever they find is wrong -- then let that be even their own mistake.
Small children imbibe and imitate whatever they see, experience; thus all the generations so far were blindly following the same pattern and were running through the same cycle.
However this generation works with its eyes open; they wish to set right example for their tiny-tots. They do not follow their fore-fathers and lord it over the house. Instead they strive to#ShareTheLoad with their wives, who work with them shoulder-to-shoulder in the outer world.
So our society is approaching a new sunrise where the age-old thoughts and beliefs would be shaken off and the new-age man wouldn't be ashamed to #ShareTheLoad and help in the household chores.
However, at the same time, one has to keep it in mind that times have changed, times are changing with each passing moment. So, everything that had so far been always done in a particular way, may not essentially hold true any more.
(Here we can state the example of of family planning. It was always believed that children are God's gift and more the number of children, more addition to the family finance. But the bursting population and ever rising inflation rate proved this wrong. Now, in a family which is already below the poverty-line, giving birth to more children would mean gifting them a life of starvation, illiteracy and misery, at the birth itself.)
In the same manner, many old things or traditions need to be revised, changed.
Long time ago, the domains for men and women were clear-cut and totally separate. The men took care of everything outside the house and shouldered the responsibility of looking after family's financial needs. Women took care of all the tasks within the four walls of the house.
As the bread-winner and care-taker of the family, the men attained more importance. Carrying the same line of thought further, the boys or male children of the family were perceived as future supporters or pillars of family. Thus they were given importance similar to that of the man of the house and were groomed accordingly.
Things changed over the centuries, but these traditions continued in the same way. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it is my observation that men of the family generally do not interfere into the matters like which household skills should be taught to the boys and which one to the girls. It is generally the grandmothers and mothers who pamper the male child as the future man-of-the-house and are shocked at the thought of boys as much as touching any household chore like cooking, cleaning or washing.
But they cannot be blamed either; because they are just following whatever they had seen, heard and experienced throughout their own lives.
Probably this the reason why even today's working women carry the traces of these beliefs at the back of their minds. So somewhere deep down they continue to feel a slight guilt that they are neglecting their family and home -- and this, when they are daily slogging in the outside world for eight-nine hours for that same family.
This is what I mean by deep-rooted beliefs or thoughts. Over the ages, these things have seeped to such depth inside the psyche of out society, that mammoth efforts would be required to uproot these and implant some fresh ones.
Now a great name like Proctor & Gamble has taken the pioneering step in this direction. But everyone has to add his/her bit to it. A mindset like 'This is social issue, what I alone can do to change it?', would not be of any help.
Remember the squirrel amongst the monkeys who built the bridge for Sri Ram? She didn't say that I'm so tiny, how could I be of any help? She rolled in the sand, went over towards the stones of the bridge and shook off the sand to fill the gaps in the stones. She did her bit -- and so should each one of us.
We are lucky that our next generation doesn't follow everything blindly; they think, they ask questions and seek answers. They do not hesitate to change whatever they find is wrong -- then let that be even their own mistake.
Small children imbibe and imitate whatever they see, experience; thus all the generations so far were blindly following the same pattern and were running through the same cycle.
However this generation works with its eyes open; they wish to set right example for their tiny-tots. They do not follow their fore-fathers and lord it over the house. Instead they strive to#ShareTheLoad with their wives, who work with them shoulder-to-shoulder in the outer world.
So our society is approaching a new sunrise where the age-old thoughts and beliefs would be shaken off and the new-age man wouldn't be ashamed to #ShareTheLoad and help in the household chores.
“I am joining the Ariel #ShareTheLoad campaign at BlogAdda and blogging about the prejudice related to household chores being passed on to the next generation.”
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