Saturday afternoon fever

sln · Mar 18, 2009

Dear SS,
Thanks for the warm welcome.When I read Atlanta as address,nostalgic memories started flooding me ,as I passed thro Atlanta to stay in a place called Muscle Shoals for a month in 1984.Mr.Patel,the motel owner overwhelmed me with his hospitality when he learnt that I was a strict vegetarian.That is by the way.Mythili used to be called as Lakshiminarayanan's wife for decades but ever since she started writing to IL .I am being referred to as Mithila Madam's husband.This is great.Mutual appreciation of each other's strengh and building on it is a rewarding experience,as the warm welcome from ilites,demonstrates.

Regards
LAKSHIMINARAYANAN

jaijui0 · Mar 18, 2009

lakshminarayan,
a revolt in your house ..it had to happen one day after years of compliance from the female brigade ..
so no more Saturday afternoon naps for u ? aww
jaijui

sln · Mar 18, 2009

Dear Ashwini,
Thanks for the feedback.Each one of us be it a male or female is a bundle of contadictions.What makes life easier is to look at the brighter side of each other and enjoy whatever God has bestowed on us.
Regards
LAKSHIMINARAYANAN

sln · Mar 18, 2009

Dear Jaijuio.
Compliance is an inescapable fact of life-if not for this,for something else.
Thanks for the feedback.
Regards
LAKSHIMINARAYANAN

Kamla · Mar 19, 2009

Dear Lakshminarayan,

Welcome to Indusladies forum! Congratulations on being nominated to our FP forum so soon after your entry here!:thumbsup

Though I read your piece earlier, I could not give a fb till now.

First of all, I am thrilled to know the other half of the Kannan duo and I can forsee both the halves contesting for the same FP of the Month!! Well, yours seems to be a made in heaven match. From what I have read here, you are well versed with words and have put forth your story with humor and candour. I will now check out your other inputs in the forum for surely it will be intersting and a pleasure to read.

I see that you have decided to give up on the Saturday fever, more for your own comfort zone as I understand!! But now you have entered our Mithila ma'm's favorite domain and I hope you will not pose a competition here! We do not want an 'Abhiman' unfolding here?!!:rotfl

Jokes aside, enjoyed reading your piece and we at IL can only be thrilled that our pleasures will be doubled what with both of you enthralling us with your wonderful posts.

L, Kamla

sln · Mar 19, 2009

Dear Kamla,
Thanks for the warm welcome.When one writes,it has to be a win win situation for both the writer as well as the reader.Iam not a prolific writer like mythili nor can I weave a story in such a way that you become a part of the story by the time you are throgh with it.Iam in the compliance zone since retirememnt and Iam thoroughly enjoying it.Though new to indus ladies ,every one has made me feel comfortable with their warmth and positive comments.This can only spur me to dish out delectable fare in the days to come.
Regards

LAKSHIMINARAYANAN

sln · Mar 28, 2020

sln said: ↑

SATURDAY AFTERNOON FEVER

I avoid controversies on Saturdays.The reason is simple.We work only half a day on Saturdays.On my return I look forward to chilled beer followed by special lunch comprising of vatha kuzhambu,potato kara kari and tomato thayir pachadi,a combination of celestial flavour and devine taste,I have a nap followed by our excursion to the club where we watch a movie in the open air theatre and have dinnerThis is a routine religiously followed over years and therefore you will understand why I avoid arguments on Saturdays.
One Saturday, the routine was followed as usual with the exception that I woke up at 7.30 pm after my nap.My wife and daughters who were watching TV exchanged stealthy glances.This prompted me to ask my wife as to why she did not wake me up as usual at 4.30 pm.Without batting an eyelid, she replied that it was not her job.I could not believe my ears.A lady who had been faithfully waking me up in our 15 years of married life was redefining the unwritten job description.My daughters echoed the sentiment in chorus.Encouraged by this vociferous and numerical support, my wife continued”just because I was waking you up all these years does not entitle you to demand this service automatically.From today you are on your own.This is nothing but male chauvinism and I am not going to submit to this any longer”Having said this as if she had rehearsed this meticulously, she glanced at my daughters.While they did not say any thing, one could discern their unspoken admiration of their mother..In fact their silence was eloquent.
Being a salesman, I know when to retreat particularly when outnumbered by the opposite tribe.
We did not go the club that day and my wife and daughters started playing scrabbles by themselves and to my exclusion.Pardon me for the digression at this stage.A peek into the background is necessary to understand my bewilderment when my wife raised a war cry.My wife is a post graduate ,a short story writer in tamil and a trained teacher.She did not touch my feet and pray to the mangalsutra every day as they used to depict dutiful wife in the films.Yet she deferred to my opinion on almost every subject and was content to run the home.She completely depended on my courage and skills in handling lizards and cockroaches in the kitchen.[Those days these insects had to be handled manually.]She of all the girls calls me male chauvinist that too in the presence of my daughters.I had to handle this revolt but I thought that I had to have a good strategy to nip it in the bud.

Before going to bed I looked for magazines in the rack and to my surprise I found a well known Women’s magazine.I thought reading this would help me understand women and help me in my present predicament.Leafing through the magazine I found an article penned by a confused but versatile champion of Women’s lib.In a vituperative and choice language ,she called all males as MCPs.She concluded the article by appealing to all the females to rise in revolt and cry a halt to the demeaning practice of waking up their husbands from sleep.So after all, this female was the root cause of all that happened to disturb my Saturday..Let me confess that I had always applauded chivalrous women like Joan of Arc and Jhansi Rani as they had not disturbd my domestic front.I then and there made up my mind that I would not allow confused and confusing women to cause ripples in the placid waters of my domestic life.

Next morning I told my wife in no uncertain terms that being the sole bread winnr I was entitled to such perks as my wife waking me up.This was the last straw on the camel’s back.She flared up and said that it was I who was not allowing her to take up a job.She also politely reminded me that my salary had gone up 400%after our marriage.After all she concluded that behind every successful man there is a woman.

I felt deflated.I said that she was free to take a job and that I would do my utmost to help her.When I made this heroic offer I had no inkling of the scrape I was getting into.As luck would have it she landed on a tacher’s job in a school.It was then,my difficulties started in quick succession.She had to leave at 7AM and I had to content myself with cold breakfast and could no longer follow the daily news with a hot cup of coffee by my side.The door bell rang continuously what with servant,milkman and dhobi following in quick succession.Imagine the sight of a man searching for his favourite pickle bottle in the absentee land lady’s kitchen.I consoled myself that it was a matter of passing clouds.

O n the other hand the passing clouds darkened with time.Evenings became difficult.One day she was preparing the Lesson plan,another day she was setting up question papers.There was a never ending stream of correcting home work note books and answer sheets.Seeing her trouble, I had to chip in to total up the marks and prepare a summary of the mark list.I dearly missed exchanging office gossip with her.

Though late, I realized that after all, has not my wife who had faithfully woken me up on Saturday evenings for fifteen years has the liberty of calling me a Male Chauvanist as along as she gives me two cups of steaming filtered coffee in the mornings .lovely food day after day without casual leave,sick leave or privlege leave which I enjoy at office?

All his happened because of my Saturday afternoon fever.I have decided that I will have no more of it.
Click to expand...

Amulet · Mar 28, 2020

mithila kannan said: ↑

....I am so happy so happy that I wish I could dance,....
mithila
Click to expand...

RIP: here is a dance from the movie "Saturday Night Fever". Song by Bee Gee's.

Cheeniya · Mar 28, 2020

@Amulet
John Travolta! What a man! From Saturday Night Fever to Broken Arrow to The Fanatic!
You have an excellent recall!

Amulet · Mar 28, 2020

Cheeniya said: ↑

@Amulet
John Travolta! What a man! From Saturday Night Fever to Broken Arrow to The Fanatic!
You have an excellent recall!
Click to expand...

Travolta was a child star. I saw him first in the TV drama "Welcome back Kotter", about a brooklyn, NY school. It is sort of like a stretched out version of "To Sir with Love" running to several half hour episodes on TV.

Here is the first episode of "Welcome Back, Kotter". Spot Travolta ( Character: Vinnie Barbarino) in Kotter's class.