Well this was a rather difficult task, creating a questionaire and asking people to fill it is easy but interviewing married women about certain personal issues is a herculean task. Selected a few married women based on parameters such as : should be between 0 to 5 years of marriage, should be staying in either nuclear or joint family, my comfort level with them was also important. My being a married researcher was an added advantage I could relate to their problems and issues.
Day 1 Respondent 1
She is a working women, married for 5 years, has a 3 year old kid, husband works in an advertising agency. They have a good standard of living according to a metropolitan city like Delhi. Her issues were basically related to child care, as the in-Laws stay in a different city they has to purchase a house near to her natal home( Parental Home). This way her parents were a great support in her life, they looked after the kid as soon as he returned from school and she would pick him up from their place after work.
According to her she dosen't have a great relationship with her in-laws as they think that she as a working woman cannot take care of their grandchild and son. Intially she doubted her capabilities in cooking, arranging the home, organizing other chores. But her husband lent her the support always and has tried to bridge the gap between his wife and mother.
The respondent is my friend and intially wasn't comfortable answering questions about the home and her space, but opened in the third session. After the interview it was clear that she has say in the matters of the house as they stay in a nuclear family had it been the opposite then the story would have been completely different.
On an off day she loves to sleep, sit in the balcony and read a book over a cup of coffee, listens to music and loves to shop to destress.
On a normal day both husband and wife share duties towards the home and the child, the day I went they were both preparing a list of schools for nursery admission ( Kindergarten) of their son. They are a perfect example of a modern couple in a city like Delhi.
