Short Story: Iron wala

Rekha had made plans to lock up the kitchen that Sunday and give a break to her MIL by deciding to eat out for lunch..She woke up a little early than usual to let her MIL know that they  need not cook that day. While she was doing her exercise, the door bell rang. She waited for a few minutes as she knew her MIl would answer the call. When the bell rang the second time, she stopped her suryanamaskar in the middle and proceeded toward the door while she heard the following conversation. that her MIL informing the iron wala that both the husband and wife are still sleeping and asking him to come over sometime later. When the laundry man asked for the second time if Rekha was at home and if Rekha has kept aside clothes to be given for pressing, the MIL replied back telling Rekha was asleep and wouldn't wake up any sooner..This upset Rekha and she cancelled her lunch plans for the day. For quite some time she was disturbed by what would have been the need for her MIL to announce to the world that she was a later riser!! Phew! She did not get an answer and went about ignoring the incident and going about her day from noon onwards!

The Other side of..

Shravanthi is a young woman and similar to the story of many of her age working in IT companies, she is also caught with the rigor of having-to-prove-oneself in the office and thereby spends most of her waking hours in front of the laptop..As every year goes by, she gets busier and along with her comes the conference calls that she  needs to attend to, tasks to complete herself, and more importantly get status from others and make team members complete their tasks..Seetha who is Shravanthi's mother-in-law also stays with them and she takes care of the kitchen part most of the days..Shravanthi and Madan, both being non-fussy about food, dont care whethere the food lacks salt or is more spicy..They pass every meal just like a routine..Shravathi packs lunch for herself and her office-colleagues envy her for having a nice mil..Although Shravanthi acknowledges the role/help that her mil palys at home, on the other side, she only knows what she has to undergo at home for bringing this dabba of rice and some tamarind juice poured over it!!

One of the weekends, when Madan was out of town ,  Sandhya ,(Seetha's daughter) suggested that they go out for lunch..The same weekend was a release weekend for Shravanthi , but not-knowing how to politely reject the invite accepted and it so happened that since morning, Sh got caught in a whirlwind of issues and she was mking phone call after another to sort them out..When the clock struck one, Sh told her mil that she would be ready in about 10 mins, Seetha showed her other side..She started commenting that Sh was purposefully getting late just because Sandhya invided and was rueing as to why Sandhya extends an invite inspite of Seetha telling her not to do so..and then, after this..Sh didnt hear or now, she purposefully went away from the Seethat so that she need not hear all the complaining that continues..

Shravanthi simply didnt feel like eating at all, and ate only morsels of rice and returned half empty..Thats another ocassion when she started thinking if she should employ a maid so that she need not be dependant on Seetha just for the three laddles of rice that she carries in her lunch box!! Phew!! Employing a maid will alos put Sh in a position to voice her likings and give in to her cravings wherever she feel slike it..Let Madan return..lets figure out what Madan has to say..

Needless to say, Madan, being a moomy's boy, will ask Shravanthi to consult his mother, especially when it comes to cooking matters...

Lets see if Sh gears up the courage to put forth her opinion ..Sh also knows the whining that would follow :)