September | 2020 | Paromita Goswami

After ages, I watched a movie that I loved so much. Swami 1977. Basu Chatterjee film based on Sarat Chandra’s novel by the same name. The era might be different but the society hasn’t changed a bit. The movie stars Shabana Azmi, Girish Karnard and Vikram. A woman in love is forced to marry against her will due to the family pressure and she rediscovers love in her husband’s place. The movie portrays the various emotional turmoil the woman goes through to find the ultimate solace in her marriage. A lovely story indeed.But what drew my attention was something else. A small scene shows the man of the house not getting due respect even after providing so much to the family. A few months back, in a construction site, I saw a family, husband wife and a kid. Every day the woman would work in the site along side her husband. She would carry the bricks on her head, the cement mixture and everything else she is asked to do in the site. However, every evening when the site work ended, the men would puff a bidi easing on the charpoi while the woman would be busy still cooking the food and attending the child. I wondered if she worked less than her man. But I was wrong.This very moment when the man rested while his wife cooked for him was a magical moment in the man’s life. His wife made him feel like the king with her services. No matter if he was just a daily wager but he was the provider of his family and he deserved respect. However, it is in the wife’s hand to make her man feel like a king or a servant. A wife can very easily boost up her man’s self confidence or hamper it.