Stay-at-home dads and gender equity in household.

Let's start off with a rather shocking piece of information :
Researchers from the Juan March Institute in Madrid studied data based on relationships of 4,561 middle-aged US couples
They found men who do more traditionally 'feminine' chores have less sex
It suggests that gender stereotypes linger in the home and that women may see men doing ‘feminine’ jobs as less sexually attractive
But a study looking at younger couples found the opposite is true  And according to a more recent study, men who embrace their 'feminine side' around the house have more satisfaction in the bedroom than those who stick to ‘manly’ chores like cutting the hedge and mowing the lawn.

Another one-time Nielsen India study on Indian households supported by Ariel, has found that while over two-thirds of Indian women feel, there exists inequality at home, between men and women, Indian men believe laundry is a woman's job. Two-thirds of women feel men do not help with household chores, a sentiment also echoed by men as per the 5-city (1000 person) survey conducted in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore in November 2014.
The survey says 70% of married Indian women feel they spend more time on household work than with their husbands. What displays a clear case of women undergoing greater stress as compared to men is the statistic that 85% of working Indian women feel they have two jobs, one at work and another at home.

But the numbers are progressing. A study conducted by different NGOs stated that in 1989, 32% of men and 26% of women thought that it was a man's job to earn the money and a woman’s’ job to look after the home and family - but in 2006 only 17% of men and 15% of women agreed with this.

So what can an individual make out from these statistics? Yes! Even though, we have our own thorns on the rose, but we are evolving as a society. There was a time when Hindu widows (sati) were burned with the deceased body of their husbands, and girl children were killed after birth. But we are moving forward in the direction of a better future. Those filthy rituals are long gone. We now talk about gender equality and feminism. We are headed for a better tomorrow. But then again, you can't clap with one hand. If women are matching their shoulders with men in each and every felid, what are men doing towards gender equality?

Meet the Agnihotri family. Like most of the middle-class families in India, there is just one breadwinner in this Pune based family too. Arundhati, 46, works with the Life Insurance Corporation of India, is the family’s sole breadwinner, while the husband runs the house. Atul Agnihotri is the most famous stay-at-home dad of India. After they were called in the famous TV show  Satyamev Jayate, hosted by the perfectionist of Bollywood, Aamir Khan.

 "Yes, I am dependent on her for money. Till date, I haven’t been able to buy her a gift in   the materialistic sense of the word, though our biggest gift to each other is our      contented life together. She manages the finances of our home, and she saves for the  family." - said Atul.

The Agnihotri family with Aamir khan.

And not only Atul, but there are several other examples of stay-at-home dads in India, such as Gautam John, Mohit Satyanand and Samar Halarnkar. And all of them are absolutely okay to depend upon their wives for the money and take care of the child, as well as all the household chores by themselves. And the number of them are increasing day by day.

So we can say, that yes, we are moving forward. And with every passing day, household chores are coming up onto the to-do list of men too. A happy wife, a happy life, as they say. So guys, man up, pick the broom, and start sweeping your wives off their feet once again.

“I am writing for the #ShareTheLoad activity at BlogAdda.com in association with Ariel.”

Love-story.

She loved mountains,

He loved her.
So he travelled to the mountains with her,
Forgetting what he loved: seashores.


He loved poetry,
She loved him.
So she recited him his favourites.
Forgetting what she loved: prose.


She loved to sing,
He loved to play the guitar.
And they performed together.
That’s where their love found its lost meaning.

Mighty Thoughts : My inception in the literary world.

It was just a regular day, I was getting ready for college. Just then, my phone beeped, it was a call from an unknown number.

"Am I talking to Sayantan Chatterjee?" The voice from the other end asked.

"Yes, it's him." I replied.

"I have a shipment from you. Please collect it, I'm waiting near the college" He said.

I rushed to the college, and collected the shipment. 'Sent from Mumbai' it was labelled. I tore open the wrap, jut to find out four copies of the book, that  I was waiting for from the last year, Ever since the day I received the mail, declaring me, alongside other twenty five talented authors, as selected for this anthology, I was anxious to lay my hand on the paperback. 

And when I did, the feeling was magical. I can't describe the chills that you get upon seeing your words imprinted on the pages of a book, that is widely available throughout the nation. 

About the book :

The anthology “Mighty Thoughts” comprises of 26 short stories written by different authors from all around the nation. The basic idea about the compilation of Mighty Thoughts is inspiration. As its name suggests, all the stories chosen for this anthology are solely chosen for one objective and that is to motivate our target readers with mighty thoughts. The blurb of each stories are as follows:

It’s All About You

Akash Shrivastav and Shruti Pareikh

“It’s All About You” is an inspiring story of a doctor. The doctor, Shashank Grover, is highly acclaimed for he had saved the life of a Bollywood actor suffering from ‘Lymphoma’ or skin cancer. The doctor is invited to a television show where emotions overcome him and he starts narrating about his dark childhood.

School Without Walls

Arpit Agarwal

“School Without Walls” is a humourously inspiring tale of two school children who dare to dream” and open a school without walls; a school for those couldn’t afford education.

Pomegrenate Nirvana

Dr. Roshan Radhakrishnan

The story “Pomegrenate Nirvana” is elucidated as a conversation between Sid (a Welsh person) and Renjith (an Indian fruit juice owner). Sid expresses about each of his problems to Renjith and Renjith calmly answers each of his questions over a glass of pomegrenate juice.

It’s the Thought That Counts

Elora Rath

The story starts with Avni, a news reporter who hurried up for her meeting with Manasi Goyal, an owner of ‘Spandan Foundation’, an orphanage which housed 1,300 children. Avni let out her frustration and rebuked her mother, Kavita as she tried to feed her with extra breakfast. She hurried down the stairs and got inside the taxi without looking back at her. Kavita, on the other hand, was deeply affected by the loss of her husband and raised Avni with much care. On her duty, Avni came to know about Manasi’s struggles, personal loss and the value of relationships.

Massarrat

J Alchem

In this story, Sameer receives the Public Welfare Award for Education sector and steps on the dias to receive his award and speak a few words. He is overladen with emotions and his memories flashed back to the days when he used to sell water pouches in railway stations. On a lucky day, he came across Massarrat, who offers to teach him for water pouches.

Finding Myself

Jonali Karmakar

“Finding Myself” is the story of a differently abled girl, Nisha who seeks the alliance of Rakesh, her younger sister’s private tutor. The story lays emphasis on individual dreams and responsibilities.

Slavish Sin

Kshitiz Sudhakar

Riya’s father had committed adultery, which finally led to the double murder of her parents. This was something which she never imagined in the worst of her nightmares. Now, Riya was left with no option other than to take up the cudgels for saving the reputation of her parents. She touched the weapons by which her parents killed each other and took the blame on herself. 

The Beggar

Mohan V Raghavan

The Beggar is a surprising story of a common man, Arun who was travelled across a train to buy medicines from another station for his ailing son. When he boarded the train, a beggar came across and asked him for some money. The story describes the human instinct which lies deep inside everyone’s heart.

Learning is the Daughter of Repitition

Vivek Jha

The narrator’s team had won the basketball tournament and was celebrating their victory feast at a restaurant. At that point, a shy eleven-year-old boy came at the restaurant along with a basketball to have an autograph. The narrator gave an autograph and went back to enjoy with his friends. Ever since that day onwards, a shy boy continued to look at the narrator play from his hiding. What happens when the narrator comes face to face with him?

Inspired

Rahul Ramesh

“Inspired” is a story about a powerful business-magnate who owned more than a hundred paid slaves. Once, he came across a lucrative opportunity to build a mall in the place of a slum and therefore, decided to act upon it. The people begged for their lives but the narrator just laughed at their helplessness, avoided their plight and moved on. It was then, the narrator undergoes a sudden change of heart. How does it happen? And how does he inspire?

A Break Up Story

Leepi Agrawal

This is a youth-based story which sends the motto “Time is the biggest healer”. The story is about Nikita and Siddharth. Siddharth was a struggling musician and Nikita never cared about him, though he loved her.

When The Sun Sets

Swathi Shenoy

“When The Sun Sets” is a story of a girl who dreamt of having an Olympic Gold for India in Figure Skating but in a tragic accident, she lost one leg. She did not stop dreaming and as she looked at the sun setting in the horizon, she thought of giving a last chance. She had to lift one leg and skate either way. It was difficult but she dared to dream once again.

Kisalaya

Sayantan Chatterjee

The story “Kisalaya” shows the truth of all old age homes. The inmates of “Kisalaya”, an old age home were made to wear uniforms like boarding or a jail, dirty rooms with dark green fungus and there was a field where the old men never played. Instead, they levelled the grasses with the lawn-mowers. The narrator, amidst all these revelations, happened to meet a couple, Mr. and Mrs. Banerjee. He learnt about the dismaying story of theirs but was thrilled to see how they lived in the oldage with enthusiasm.

The Monkey and The Moon

Pritesh Chakraborty

The story begins as a lecturer enters the class quite late and begins a tale as there was not much time for the bell to ring. Between his stories, the student narrator either dozes off or gets diverted and begins listening to the tale which simply puts the desperate attempts to reach the incredibly high white orb. The lecturer leaves the tale in the middle and leaves it upto the students to derive the conclusion. The story teaches that we all have weaknesses, in the form of monkeys, and what we desire to achieve is the moon or glory.

My Pain, My Success

Nidhi

My Pain, My Success is the story of life and struggles of a girl called Kavya who had managed to overcome the obstacles of the step motherly and barbaric attitude of her uncle and aunt, an unsuccessful marriage and a life in lows to a life she dreamt, with her lover Yuvraj.

Desire to Live and You Can

Nainika Gautam

A lot of inquisitive, half hearted students were sitting in the hall, waiting for a guest speaker to come on stage and deliver an inspirational speech. As the students joked amongst themselves, the guest speaker came up. The guest speaker started off telling the tale of Muskan, a child who was brought up by her parents like a princess. One day, when Muskan was eight and had gone to the park, her mother was called by a person who said that his husband had suffered from an accident. When the mother returned, she found that Muskan was lying on the ground and had become a victim of child abuse. What happens next? How did she become an inspiration? Who was Muskan?

The Journey of Realisation

Sreelekha Chatterjee

Kunal had boarded the train back to Kolkata and he desperately wanted to escape from his worthless life. While travelling in the train, he came across Vimla, a cheerful old woman with a distressed past. She offered sweets, tried to strike a conversation many-a-times, but failed. What was Kunal’s reaction? What happened when they reached the destination?

If There is Love, Here it is, Here it is…

Shalini Roy

The story “If There is Love” is based on a true story. It speaks about the belongigness of a differently abled couple who were victims of the Gyaneshwari Express blast which was caused by the naxalites. The couple elucidates how they met each other when they were in agony, supported each other even though they knew that their limbs were missing, and still found a perfect soulmate.

What is Success?

Sunayna Pal

Pachu, a little kid, locked himself in a room inside and sulked because it was for the first time, someone defeated him in a race. He did not want to eat nor did he want to see his grandmother. The grandmother arrived and entered into his room, respecting his privacy. She also managed to make him giggle. Meanwhile, the mother decided to eavesdrop on them. The grandmother continues to explain him about success and persuade him to come out of the room to have some food.

Rule of the Wicked

Vinay Chitturi

Evil hearted and notorious, Sekhar was the ruler of the village and his words were followed without a single objection from anyone. Rather, no one dared to object. He was in a pensive mood as his wife Kamala was about to give birth to a baby. He wished for a male child, and that was what he got. Later, he came to know that his son, Amar, was a cripple. He was infuriated and wished to slay his son but time healed and later, Kamala gave birth to Prathap and Shakun. Will Prathap and Shakun follow the footsteps of Sekhar or will they betray him? What will be the role of Amar in all these?

The Heroes

Prity S

“The Heroes” is a story which potrays the real life inspiration around us. An accident takes place and Macy, the lady doctor had to bring in two bodies in which the chances of survival for one of them wasn’t enough. Unfortunately the one who could not be saved was a soldier. What happens when the life of the soldier is lost? What are the reaction of his parents?

Blind Dreams

Sandeep Sharma

Blind Dreams is a half-extract of a girl suffering from cancer. The story speaks about a novel which she reads and gathers courage.

It’s My Life

Prachi Priyanka

The story “It’s My Life” describes about the pains of old age faced by a person when he moves abroad. In a new land, he yearns for the warmth of relationships and the necessity for freedom.

The Burnt Letter

Subhasis Das

The Burnt Letter is a satirical romantic tale of the son of a Zamindar and the daughter of a Sajori (one who dresses up the bride on the wedding). The story throws a light on to the limitations of human thoughts.

Born @ 35

Meghna Gupta Jogani

Born at 35 is a story of a woman who found that her identity was lost somewhere and began her journey to become a bestselling authoress.

Miss You, Rival

Shreyan Laha

Miss You, Rival is a story about Aniket, a boy who was frequently compared with his neightbour, Trisha for his bad grades. The board results were out and Aniket scored half marks of his rival, Trisha, had scored. He retrospected upon the lost time which he idled while playing the guitar and thought of attempting a suicide. As he was about to take the step of ending his life, Trisha called him and ordered that they had more plans. The two chattered and spent some merry time in an empty space and suddenly, Aniket was shocked to find that she was not around. How Aniket gains inspiration is purely petrifying…

You can support us on our Facebook page, And you can buy the book from here. 

The Missed Calls

Riya was surfing through the channels aimlessly. When you have a big house like theirs, and your husband is always busy on business, all you are left with is the remote of the TV. And no one better than her knows how boring it may turn out to be. Sometimes she regrets marrying Sameer. But at that time it seemed like the right thing to do.  She was lured by the materialistic properties that Sameer had. Big house, big car, and lots of money. The arrange marriage sounded like a great deal to Riya. Little did she know that all of these comes with a price.

An eagle swarmed into a large snake as it hissed away, turning good 360 degrees, and jumps on to the bird and bit it on the neck. After a lot of hustle, the bird died out of poison. A ridiculously interesting show was up in the Discovery channel. Riya leaned forward to watch the same scene, but this time in a slow motion. Oh! How she wished she could turn  360 from this marriage, go back into the past and stop it from happening but alas, she doesn't have the furious instinct or the courage to do so.

'Ring Ring'......'Ring Ring'. Their land-phone buzzed. 'Ring Ring'...'Ring Ring' , it buzzed again. Riya lazily walked upto the table and just when she was about to pick the call, it disconnected. A missed call on the land-phone! How strange, she thought. Sometimes the extra sophistication around this house irritates her. In 2015, who has a gold plated antique land-phone apart from Sameer? This piece of crap doesn't even has a Caller-ID! Now she won't be able to call back whoever was calling.

She came back near the sofa, where she was sitting before and turned on the TV. Some bollywood hero with his shirt open, flaunting his eight packs, was advertising for some deodorant.

'Ring Ring'...'Ring Ring' the phone buzzed again. Riya jumped off the sofa and hurried to the table, but as before, before she could pick the call up, it got disconnected.

After ten minutes the same thing happened. And this kept happening for the next two hours. 'Ring Ring' ... 'Ring Ring' , a call comes to their telephone, and before she could pick it up, it disconnects. For the first few calls, Riya thought it was just a coincident. But it can be coincident if it happens for two or three times in a row, but eleven times straight can't be a co-incident! She was freaked out.

"Ring Ring"...."Ring Ring" the phone buzzed again, for the twelfth time that night. Riya was so frightened that even if the AC was on, she was sweating like an ice-cream out of refrigerator. At a point she thought she'll call Sameer at let him know about this. But she refrained from that, and went straight to  her bedroom and locked herself inside, but she could still hear the phone buzzing all night. She fell asleep later in the dawn.


The sound of the doorbell waked her up. Knotting the belt of his night gown, she walked up to the door with sleepy eyes. She opened the door to find out two gentlemen, wearing a blue uniform. "We are from the telephone company" said one of them. Wait! She didn't even tell anyone about last night. How did they know?
"Your husband called us a week ago, we're sorry, the cable you had was very old. It tore off the pole, we detected. We are here to change the wire." said the second man.
But that didn't make any sense! How can the phone be dead for days, when  it was the phone that kept her up  all night? A cluster of chills flew down her spine. Her face turned red, for the sudden gush of blood, and in the next second it tuned pale yellow. She was having a panic attack. All she could hear was the echo of the land-phone ringing. 'Ring Ring'... 'Ring Ring', it buzzed.

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.

This week’s WOW prompt is– ‘Hero, Missed Call and Discovery’

My first WOW badge, Thanks BlogAdda. 

Carpe Diem!

The other day, I was just browsing through the internet. Site to site, wandering aimlessly. To sum up, wasting my time. Just then I stumbled upon this video in Youtube. Some guy named Harlem Elvis was saying something about 84,600 $ per day. I was intrigued, naturally. So I played the clip. And one minute and four seconds later I was awestruck. Never in my life have I been more inspired in just 64 seconds. And what he said was so simple, so easy to understand, but yet so powerful. I was moved to the core.

"Take every day and take every moment and make something of it. Make something positive.” Harlem says. This got me into thinking. What am I doing with my share of 84,600 seconds per day? Am I spending it wisely? Or am I wasting it? And the answer that I found lying secretly deep into my heart was frightening. I was wasting the most of it. But then again, when you're in your early 20s, you don't think about wasting time or things like that. All you care about is the fun you're getting out of it. Right? And believe me I was having a lot of fun wasting my time. May be I was not doing something productive every moment, but I was doing something positive.
Everyday I steal time from my routing to have some self-time. To thank the universe for bearing my burden, to thank my family for always being there for me, to thank my friends for being the hush of wind of the sail of my life and for being the anchor of my boat, when needed.
And I try to do my part. To be always there for my friends and family, in joy and sadness.
I like to live my life with no regrets whatsoever. Do whatever I like, whenever I feel like. Never hurt anyone knowingly. Make my own choices and live up to them. Set goals for myself and work hard to achieve them. Love and to be loved.
These little things, no matter how small or tiny they sound makes me a better man. And the happiness that comes out of these is incomparable.
And to know, that whatever life throws at me, I will always have these beliefs. I will always have my morals, my values, and the teeny tiny moments in my life that will cheer me right up. This feeling is what makes big occasions unnecessary, making me want to enjoy the moment I'm living in, to seize the day.

"#CelebrateLifeAtIvy by owning a dream home at Ivy estate, an 85 acre estate with 34 acres of greenery and open spaces. Join the 1600 happy families already living here. Check out this walkthrough video and decide for yourself. "