A fish bowl world.

I am often floored by the attitudes of young affluent Indian women who are in their early twenties. Many of whom have completed their graduations and sit idol with too much time on their hands; and who openly propagate that their fathers don't "allow" them to work, and that they too have no desire to do so either! WOW and double WOW!

Yesterday as I sat in the changing room at the gym, this young and chirpy girl flaunted this brazen attitude of moneyed lethargy, as she winsomely pouted to me that "daddy's girl" was spending her life just having a good time! Good manners forced me to keep the vitriolic retort firmly suppressed behind the grimace that passed off as a friendly smile from my end, and I scurried away as my hands itched to give her a good spanking and get some sense into that fluffy air brain of hers!

But the truth of the matter is that we still cultivate such regressive attitudes in Indian society. Education for the girl child isn't always about creating a future of opportunities for her that engage her capabilities, and insists upon her defining her monetary independence and self worthiness. On the contrary it is really time-pass and a badgy-boo certificate for baby's marriage market debut.

Even in the art community I am often so angered by the "lazy wife syndrome" that I see too much of in Baroda itself. These are not choices that are made by women who are defining being home makers with the intellectual grasp of what such a choice is all about or the philosophy it is rooted in. The "lazy wife syndrome" is all about traditional constructs that still patina the so called modern thinking woman, and it becomes a convenience that shields women from the hard work it requires to be truly independent.

It is the middle class woman of India, and the women from the poorer sections of our society who really inspire me with their power to be a work force and contribute to the earnings of their homes and families. As the la-di-dah diamonded beauties talk endlessly on cellphones, spend hours in beauty parlours and spas, and anguish over which night spot/party to be seen at in the evening; an entire nation with so much that could use their capabilities, hangs in the balance of development and progress which so urgently needs attention and energy of the youth of this country.

But that apart. I also witness the breakdown of women who are over protected by fathers and in-laws, and when circumstances change and they are obliged to encounter their own selves to mediate decisions, then many times emotional derailments occur that are tragic to watch.

So daddy dear you may just keel over with a heart attack, and baby dear may just have a disastrous marriage where son-in-law money-bags diddles pouty Missy Gucci out of her pocket money allowance for ever! Get real and let's all cut the crap of this awful gender bias once in for all. Women as arm candy belongs in 007 James Bond C grade films that personally I find objectionable; and lazy babes are like decomposing veggies in a garbage dump! Do I need to say more?! I think you get the picture.