My mother who is eighty plus now was a busy housewife in sixties, seventies and eighties.

She used to heat water in a coal boiler

She cooked on coal and kerosene stoves in huge vessels for a family of eight. Guests used to stay for days at a stretch. Gas stove came much later.

She would milk the cow every morning and evening and arrange a part of it for selling and the rest for our use.

She would collect water and store them in big brass drums in the wash room and kitchen. Maintenance was another chore.

She would travel by rickshaw to get the monthly groceries (a sackful of them) from the only big store in the neighbourhood.

She would stitch dresses for us.

She would make snacks at home for festivals.

She would make papads and sun dried food items every summer at home.

Pickles were made at home.

Her entertainment source was a radio with a single station and a weekly magazine. Tv came in eighties but the shows would be only for an hour in the evening.

Our childhood house was a big bungalow with a big hall surrounded by huge rooms. It had a big back yard, front garden and a huge terrace. Everything would be maintained with the help of a single domestic help.

Now, if we dare to compare the chores of that age to the chores of today’s household, how much of it is comparable?

A two bedroom flat of 1000 sft, a maid who finishes cleaning in half hour, groceries delivered home, lifestyle on the whole becoming easy, what chores are we talking about? Cooking which takes hardly an hour on the whole?

Chores are magnified beyond their actual existence.

Nevertheless, whoever lives in the house should do the chores according to their capability. All the adults with a body fit enough, can and should take part.

This is our way of looking at it. So, we lived and are living that way.

Now we are two people at home, my husband and me. Whoever gets up first in the morning makes tea and wakes up the other. Both of us have our tea together.

House cleaning is not my hubby’s forte, I don’t let him do it. He takes care of the garden. Then he cuts the veggies, I make the breakfast.

He washes the dishes, I wipe them dry. He keeps them in the cupboard and I clean the counter.

Life has been a roller coaster ride. A keleidoscope with changing patterns. But we never forgot to hold each other’s hands. It has been a collective responsibility right from the beginning

Đáp án:

        Who does the household chores?

-> My family shares the household chores together.