Remember, there’s no life without wife

The wife is a frenemy. She is both a friend and a foe. This is what my neighbour, Harjit Singh, told me the other day. When I asked him to expand on his observation, he spoke from the heart.

“Sir,” he said, “my wife has put me on a bland diet. She cooks only what gives strength to my ailing heart. No concession is granted from the heartfriendly diet plan. To add to my woes, she ensures we go for a 30-minute walk daily. She never forgets to remind me to take my medicines.”

After listening to his “tale of torture”, I realised that the wife is the husband’s best friend. She can never think ill of him. She takes extra care of her soul mate. If the husband goes off track or falls into bad company, she swings into action and makes every possible effort to bring him back on track.

A common complaint of a husband against his better half is that she never lets him relax and keeps the loop of odd jobs hanging around his neck like an albatross. A wife, on the contrary, frets and fumes over the laidback attitude of her husband. Her pet peeve against her husband is that he needs constant prodding to get into action mode. On the other hand, a husband gets irked by the nagging nature of his wife.

Psychologists opine that a husband is like a rubber band; he stretches himself to the extreme to shower his love and affection on his wife but he returns to his original state after a while. The wife simply hates this “stretch back tendency” of her life partner. For a husband, the proverbial seven years’ romantic period of marriage remains intact yet its enthusiasm wanes. A wife, on the contrary, expects her hubby to be always on a “top love gear”. Pulls and pressures of life may take a toll on the romance in a marriage and may sometimes lead to bumps in the relationship. But they both manage to stay together through the ups and downs, keeping their relationship evergreen.

The husband and wife make sacrifices, big and small, to paint each other’s life in colours of happiness. A husband struggles day and night to arrange all the comforts of life for his wife, while she dedicates her life to him. She faces all kinds of troubles to keep her husband happy. The struggles only strengthen their love for one another.

Alas! the ghost of societal bias often haunts a wife. She becomes the target of jokes. A husband holds his innocent wife responsible for his miseries. This despite the fact that his wife is supportive in his hour of crisis. It is Savitri who contends hard with Yama (the Lord of Death) to bring her dead husband back to life.

Wife stands for ‘Wisdom Invited For Ever’ and not ‘Worries Invited For Ever’. If a husband makes a house, it’s the wife who turns it into a home, sweet home. Therefore, remember, there is no life without wife.

A COMMON COMPLAINT OF A HUSBAND AGAINST HIS BETTER HALF IS THAT SHE NEVER LETS HIM RELAX AND KEEPS THE LOOP OF ODD JOBS HANGING AROUND HIS NECK LIKE AN ALBATROSS. A WIFE, ON THE CONTRARY, FRETS AND FUMES OVER THE LAIDBACK ATTITUDE OF HER HUSBAND