by 
10am
I
start
working
on
my
Sunday
column
but
then
shut
the
laptop
because
it
seems
pointless
when
I
recall
the
recent
comments
by
Larsen
&
Toubro
head
S
N
Subrahmanyan.
Asked
why
his
employees
don’t
get
Saturdays
off,
he
reportedly
replied,
‘If
I
can
make
you
work
on
Sundays,
I
will
be
happier…What
do
you
do
sitting
at
home?
How
long
can
you
stare
at
your
wife?’
Well,
since
husbands
spend
Sundays
staring
at
their
wives,
they
won’t
read
the
paper.
And
wives,
busy
being
stared
at,
won’t
read
my
column
either.
I
would
like
to
point
out
that
perhaps
I
am
in
a
minority.
In
over
two
decades
of
marriage,
my
husband
has
never
spent
Sunday
staring
at
me.
Instead,
he
seems
to
spend
most
of
the
day
staring
at
the
TV,
especially
if
a
cricket
match
is
on.
This
reminds
me
that
the
kind
folks
at
BCCI
also
have
a
problem
with
husbands
focusing
on
their
wives
instead
of
cricket.
After
a
series
of
recent
losses,
they
are
now
contemplating
curbing
the
time
wives
and
girlfriends
spend
on
tour
with
the
players.
4pm
Sitting
for
an
interview,
I
am
asked,
‘You
are
a
star
wife;
tell
us
what
it’s
like?’
While
my
first
instinct
is
to
bite
the
reporter’s
index
finger,
I
reply,
‘I
am
not
sure
that
an
entity
like
‘star
wife’
exists,
unless,
in
the
way
that
Manglik
women
marry
trees,
because
of
some
Rahu
Ketu
ka
dosh,
you
end
up
marrying
Sirius
or
worse,
Halley’s
Comet.’
After
20
years
of
answering
this
annoying
question,
I
have
an
oyster-like
attitude
to
irritants
and
the
ability
to
craft
black
pearls
of
wisdom
in
response.
I’m
also
often
asked
about
—
and
blamed
for
—
the
difference
in
our
political
views.
It’s
almost
like
people
believe
he
isn’t
my
husband
but
a
toddler
who
will
listen
to
me
when
I
say,
‘Beta
ji,
please
walk
on
the
left
side
of
the
road,
and
I
will
give
you
a
Frooti.’
8pm
I
find
12
additional
pieces
about
Melania’s
clothes
and
a
flood
of
memes
of
Trump
attempting
to
kiss
her
and
being
foiled
by
her
hat.
While
people
speculate
about
whether
the
hat
was
meant
to
be
a
barrier
between
her
and
her
husband,
a
tool
for
hiding
her
feelings,
or
just
a
stylish
choice,
I
feel
like
cheering
for
the
First
Lady
as
she
marches
in
her
military
coat
to
her
own
beat.
Vocal
about
her
past
nude-modelling
career,
Melania
is
perhaps
an
example
of
a
woman
going
from
being
a
Playboy
bunny
to
becoming
the
one
pulling
rabbits
out
of
her
broad-brimmed
boater
hat.
10pm
I
double-check
the
window
locks
and
set
the
alarm
before
bed.
In
the
wake
of
Saif
Ali
Khan’s
stabbing,
a
sense
of
vulnerability
has
taken
root
in
homes
everywhere.
After
a
period
of
detaining
every
naturally
spindly
man
they
could
find,
and
some
on
Ozempic,
the
cops
have
finally
nabbed
the
perpetrator.
While
Saif
was
in
hospital,
ridiculous
rumours
swirled
that
his
wife
hadn’t
been
at
home
or
had
been
too
intoxicated
to
help
him
during
the
assault.
The
absence
of
any
sort
of
evidence
did
nothing
to
stop
these
dumb
theories.
People
just
enjoyed
shifting
the
blame
onto
the
wife
—
an
all-too-familiar
pattern.
When
the
Beatles
split,
people
blamed
John
Lennon’s
wife,
Yoko
Ono,
for
causing
the
rift.
Melania
is
often
criticised
for
being
silent
or
having
limited
public
opposition
to
her
husband’s
policies.
Jill
Biden
has
been
held
responsible
for
pushing
Joe
to
continue
his
campaign
despite
his
health
conditions.
When
Virat
Kohli
gets
out,
then
Anushka
gets
booed.
When
Beckham
could
not
bend
it
on
the
football
field,
fingers
were
pointed
at
Victoria.
This
is
a
widespread
issue,
not
limited
to
couples
in
the
public
eye.
If
your
husband
gains
too
much
weight,
you
are
not
taking
care
of
his
health;
if
he
loses
too
many
kilos,
you
are
not
feeding
him
well.
If
your
house
is
untidy,
you
are
lazy;
if
it’s
too
neat,
you
are
a
control
freak.
If
you
work,
you
are
too
ambitious;
if
you
don’t,
you
are
good
for
nothing.
If
he’s
caring,
they’ll
claim
you’ve
manipulated
him;
if
he’s
indifferent,
they’ll
blame
you
for
not
handling
him
right.
Last
week,
I
attended
a
small
family
gathering
where
one
of
the
relatives
remarked,
‘Look,
my
five
uncles
are
bald,
and
the
one
who
still
has
hair,
he
is
the
only
one
who
is
not
married’.
Apparently,
wives
can
also
be
blamed
for
baldness.
In
this
context,
I
suppose
it’s
accurate
to
say
that
behind
every
man,
loser
or
leader,
stands
a
woman
who
is
about
to
be
vilified,
at
the
drop
of
a
hat,
or
with
it
firmly
on
her
head.
Originally Published at Bohiney.com
Author: Twinkle Khanna
