When the husband is away

We’ve all heard of the tendency of the mice, when the cat is away! Feeling safe and secure, they prance around, up to all kinds of tricks. The scenario is somewhat similar when the husband is away! Wives relax, get together, chat and generally live it up. But this takes different forms and let us be shameless and peek into different homes...

Sheela is a Naval officer’s wife. As soon as she learns that her husband has to sail for a week, she gets ready for a busy schedule. She calls up her friend Nina whose husband is also on the same ship. They bid a tearful farewell to their respec­tive husbands and then settle down to plan their own itinerary. Topping the list of ac­tivities is visits to the various galleries holding sales and exhibitions. Instructing the ayah to rustle up some food for the children, they set out, scouring the town for bargains... that’s their routine till the hubbies get back...

Sudha, a businessman’s wife, is alone very often as her husband is off on short trips every other day. Tired of shopping, seeing video films and eating in five-star hotels, she takes short trips herself, either to Goa to meet her childhood friend or to Kashmir to attend her niece’s birthday or to Darjeeling to grace her uncle’s 60th wedding anniversary. If nothing exciting, she hops across to Singapore to be with her sister. Having her husband around is a novelty for her...

Alka is crazy about films. Her husband hates them. Unfortunately he’s a bank of­ficer and does not go on tours often. When he does, Alka goes berserk; she takes her ayah along and books tickets for all three shows in different theatres. She feeds the kids on two-minute noodles and herself lives on sandwiches, so that every minute is spent fruitfully, watching movies...

Sunita looks forward to her sales rep hubby travelling. She is very good at bak­ing and whenever he’s out, she holds bak­ing classes for the neighbourhood ladies. She also belongs to a group of ladies who have cooking demos in each other’s houses. By the time the husband gets back, having reached his sales target, Sunita is nice and plump.

Awfully cowed down by her autocratic husband, Seema waits for him to go on his inspections, before she rushes to her mother’s. There she lazes around, gets pampered, visits her relatives and friends and gets back into action, playing the docile wife when her excise officer husband gets back...

Alas! the poor working woman —‘it makes little difference to her whether the cat — sorry husband — is around or away! For her, there’s only one way she can play — at work — when the boss is away!