The Housewife - part 1

Family at the dinner table​

It was 8:00pm, the regular time for Chauhan family to gather for dinner. Mr and Mrs Chauhan, their son Suraj and Daughter in law Saumya, all four of them sat in their respective chairs, eating and making polite conversation. A news channel was giving an update about the latest soap drama on television with all the spicy gossip.

‘These news channels have nothing good to show these days.’ Mr Chauhan commented.

‘They should be banned. News in our days used to be full of information and look at the crap they show in the name of news these days’, he reached for the remote and switched off the TV.

Father, mother and son went back to their conversation.

Saumya looked down at her plate and started eating silently, trying hard to maintain her facial expressions and trying hard not to think too much but the thoughts kept screaming in her mind. ‘Couldn’t he just ask? Just because he did not want to watch the program he switched off the TV. How rude is that. Since the day I came here there is no watching the TV in peace, either he will change the channel or switch it off even when he can clearly see that I am watching the god damn TV’.

“Delicious sabji, there is nothing satisfying than a delicious meal and today this sabji makes the meal perfect.” Mrs Chauhan remarked smilingly.

‘I am stuffed but I just can’t stop myself from eating more of this sabji. Mom, this is simply delicious’, Suraj added.

Mr Chauhan reached for the bowl, ‘Same here. Suraj lets share and finish it off son’.

‘You made the sabji is really nice mummy’, Saumya looked at Mrs Chauhan and smiled.

‘You know Saumya, nice food is made with lot of dedication and passion. You need to put in the right ingredients and wait for the dish to simmer for the right amount of time. The dhal you made could have tasted better if you had put in a little extra effort. Now, look at the sabji I made, it not only tastes delicious but it looks delicious as well.’ Mrs Chauhan stirred the Dahl in the bowl and twisted her mouth and commented in a soft voice, “what a waste.”

‘I liked the dhal too. It’s very nice’, Suraj smiled at Saumya and reached for an extra serving of dahl.

Saumya sat there quietly eating the food and looking down at her plate, ‘It’s better to keep my mouth shut else these people will leave no chance to ruin my day’.

It was always the same story in the Chauhan family, Mr and Mrs Chauhan always tried to teach Saumya how to live her life and how to be a perfect wife and if that was not enough she was pitted against their daughter Gitangali who in their eyes was the most precious thing on this earth.

For Saumya, it seems that things had to be re learnt. When she looked back on the 24 years of her life, she often used to wonder if the things what she learnt before her marriage had any worth in this house hold. It’s been a year since their marriage and it felt like a never ending college class, where all you have to do is listen to the teacher and nod your head even when your mind refuse to agree to the concepts that are being taught.

http://www.indusladies.com/forums/stories-fiction/154473-the-housewife-part-2-a.html#post2053882​

 

Dear Aruna,

Thanks a ton for the encouragement. Hope you enjoy the rest of the parts of the story as well.

regards

GW