Men Women Bonding:Time to Reflect

I once read an article in a national newspaper which shocked me beyond my wits. It was about a well-known television actress. Despite being an actress of national repute, she had to put up with the torture and oppression inflicted upon her by her brutish and insensitive husband. She had told in the interview that she had done everything possible, to save her marriage. Even when her husband was suspicious of her character, she gave up acting to convince him. But instead of getting better, the situation got worse. The husband stopped giving any money to even for her personal expenses or the day to day expenses of the household. For quite sometime, she put up with these excesses thinking that silence and submission will make things better. But it got worse by the day. As she was not working anymore, financial crisis hit her badly and the circumstances became humiliating. The husband even poisoned the mind of her son by telling him stories about her. Unable to put up with these cruelties any more, one day she got up, packed her bags and left the husband’s house. Now she has started working again and lives on her own. The husband has gone to the extent of not allowing her son to pay a visit to her. But she has no regrets. She has learnt her lesson. She is not going to unlearn it now.

Money is about power. Power corrupts and in the hand of unwise and unscrupulous people, it becomes a dangerous weapon as becomes an instrument of domination, subjugation and exploitation. This happens not only in conjugal relationships but in families between parents and children and in workplaces between the employees and the employers too. That’s why nowadays it is advisable for women to work and earn. Equations in relationships have always been largely imbalanced with the man playing a dominant role, but in today’s world, it’s touching the border of weirdness. Love or tender affection, and caring have become rare. It’s mostly a bond that is pushed or dragged forward or it’s one of convenience. Money, comfort, luxury, power etc define the equations and when it happens, relationships are bound to suffer. Women are consistent in love and are more sacrificing by nature and with them having financial independence; the relationships have a chance of surviving turbulence. If the softer and extra sensitive image of woman undergoes a change and men retain their egocentric character that is mostly inborn, broken families are going to be a familiar feature of Indian society in the future. Relationships are valuable and a good bonding between the male and counter parts is inevitable to the existence and evolution of the society. Both men and women should remember this very basic truth.