Readers Write

Homemaker

This has reference to the article titled `Homemaker, may her tribe increase! ' by Jacob John, (Open Page, June 10, 2012).

Gone are the days when women who were not employed, but took care of the domestic side, shyly used to say “I am sitting at home” or “doing nothing.”

Women work all day long — from getting up at 5.30 a.m. till 11 p.m. They prepare the morning tiffin, cook the meal for the day, get the children ready for school, get the provisions, vegetables, etc.

After everyone is gone, wash the clothes, pay the bills, prepare evening snacks for everyone and in the evening fetch the children from school if there is no school bus (assuming that the father drops them at school in the morning), teach them homework and then, of course, prepare dinner. After seeing her do all this, can anyone say that she is ‘sitting idle at home'?

Anandhi Jayakumar, Chennai

My mother, who is working as a school teacher, is like a robot which does every work perfectly and on time; the only difference is she does it out of love and not on the basis of any commands.

Amutha Bharathi, Chennai

The homemaker is being recognised at last. A permanent job with no opportunity to resign, prolonged working hours, no casual leave, no earned leave, no LTC, at the best very limited maternity leave ! Adept at F&B and housekeeping, she handles every department with aplomb, whether it is home affairs, security, education, transport, textiles or external affairs.

As a “reward,” she is given the additional charge of local administration and often becomes a specialist in handling payments of water tax, property tax, electricity bill, income tax and investments. Googling, net banking and e-shopping seem to be in her blood. To be a telephone operator, executive assistant, Man Friday, Hostess-in-Chief and, when required, the First Lady needs remarkable tact, diplomacy and super efficiency.

This is no mean achievement for a home grown CEO. Self-taught, multitasking superbly efficient CEOs at home were initially referred to as “not working.” Now called homemakers, they can never, ever hope to be ranked in the “100 most powerful women” of the world.

If these CEOs strike work, even for a few hours, the repercussions would be felt on the global economy. This small tribute is to the hundreds of thousands of faceless home-based CEOs, who perennially work, unwept, unhonoured and unsung for their lord and master, his parents, their own children and their children. May this endangered species get the “Woman of the Millennium” award.

Dr. K. Ganapathy, Chennai

Whenever I try to help my wife in the kitchen or in her housework, I rather end up with more mess and add woes to her. This leads to unpleasant situations.

The housewives' undiminished energy, accuracy and authenticity to attend the work in time are unparalleled. Without going to any B-School, they learnt all the finest of management tips. Without their management, just imagine the lives of all of us men.

Ramesh Y, Hyderabad

Nomophobia

The article “Now, we have one more phobia” (Open Page, June 10, 2012), is interesting. The mobile phone has become a necessary evil. I analysed the C5 functions of the cell phone — communication, conversation, cooperation, coordination and cursing — which reveals an amazing utility value. From an important message of a few seconds as communication to the family, the cell phone is used for lengthy conversation which is a waste of time as it is mostly non-productive talk. But the positive and productive use of mobile phone for business and administrative convenience, with the added advantage of the SMS facility, is time saving to achieve targets of importance. But the most amusing part of the mobile is that it is mercilessly used to scold, shout and curse someone.

V. Rajagopal, Tirupati

Organ donation

The discussion on dedicating the mortal remains of deceased human beings, in the Open Page, including the one published recently (Organ donation — look beyond tokenism - June 10) would sure provoke constructive debate in society and help promote that quality among people.

I was instantly reminded of veteran Marxist leader Jyoti Basu volunteering to sign the first self-declaration to donate his eyes/body when an organisation requested him to launch that campaign in April 2003. In fact, his words on that occasion were so scintillating: “For so long, I believed that communists worked for the benefit of mankind until their last breath. Now, I know they can serve mankind even in death.”

Earlier, the bodies of two leaders of the bank employees' movement, Naresh Pal and Ashis Sen (the latter, a former member of Parliament), were donated for medical research as per their desire.

Cadaver donation goes a long way in ensuring transplant of organs to needy patients and helps in medical research. A genuine understanding of this noble purpose would, no doubt, motivate the public to give a thought and make a positive contribution to this cause.

With uncontrollable tears, I recall the donation of the body of my dear friend, the late S. Vaitheeswaran, who was working at the Thousand Lights branch of Indian Bank in Chennai, a supreme gesture by his family in consolidating the social commitment of that former office-bearer of the Indian Bank Employees Association.

S. V. Venugopalan, Chennai