Punctured ego

Suguna is a young Chartered Accountant and a rank holder. She was offered job in a MNC with very attractive terms. Her husband Vivek is a mechanical engineer working for a private steel industry. It was an arranged marriage. The question of her employment came up for discussion prior to finalizing the alliance.Suguna was not very keen to work if Vivek was against it. She had other interests like music where she was very proficient and trained by her parents through a guru to a high level. She had a passion for sharing her knowledge with young girls. But Vivek was very much in favour of her continuing to work as he felt that two incomes would permit them to maintain a comfortable and high style of living. She could surmise from the discussions that Vivek was still in the third level against the ten in the hierarchy and that she was drawing more than him.Suguna was apprehensive whether after the initial honeymoon period Vivek would find marrying someone with a bigger status and earning capacity would hurt his ego and rock his world. But he was insistent that she worked and that she could do whatever she felt with her money.
It was all hunky dory in the beginning when Suguna was the answer to all his dreams; a professional accountant, tall and beautiful, a very competent singer and appreciated by all his relatives and friends. They bought a mid size car, furnished the house with swanky furniture and all equipments and rented a flat in a posh area a little away from her office. They had cereal at home in the mornings and lunch in the office. They frequently ordered their dinner from a fast food joint nearby or from pizza corner. Week ends they spent moving around visiting places and friends.
Six months after they were married Vivek shocked Suguna one morning when they were having cereal "When are you going to make idly or dosa for breakfast. Not once you have shown any interest in providing good food’" He knew that she had to leave early for office like him and had no time for all this work.She kept quiet surprised at the change in his attitude. From next day onwards, she made the dishes he wanted from the ready mix available in the departmental stores. He was still grumbling.
She found a few days later thro her friend whose husband also worked in Vivek’s office that he had been passed over in the promotions. He did not share this with her. He was sulking at what he felt was injustice. But she knew he did not put his heart into his work and just did the bare minimum to retain his job. With no competitive spirit in him he was an easy going person. Some of his ‘friends ‘who were jealous of his having married an accomplished wife with high salary in a MNC poisoned his mind telling that since he drew less, he would evoke no respect from his wife. He started behaving funnily. He started picking quarrel frequently on non-issues and turning every conversation to conflict. He made her buy another car telling he cannot come daily to pick her up on the way home and if she wanted to work she better buy. He came home late after beer sessions at the club. He belittled her amongst his relatives on every conceivable occasion. She knew that it was a case of hurt ego as he earned much less than her and aggravated after he missed his promotion.
She talked to her seniors to let her have a sabbatical for six months. She told Vivek that evening that she had left the job as she found it tiresome and would prefer to be a full time housewife making sumptuous breakfasts and dinners and also taking care of his other needs. He was rendered speechless but knew that the family income would get reduced by more than half. His ego stood in the way of asking her to change her decision and suggesting that they can employ a cook. The drop in income manifested soon in several ways. It was difficult managing the same luxurious style on his small income. His extravagant spending on friends and beer binges had to be curtailed. This made him angry. The friends deserted him.
Three months passed.Suguna was happy refreshing her music and learning new songs. One night Vivek blurted “Who asked you to leave the job without talking to me? We could have employed a lady to cook for us. It is difficult to make both ends meet with my income which as you know is not as high as yours. I might have said something in anger to you as I was superseded in my office. I wish to change to another company soon. Won’t you please ask your old company to take you back? After all you were a brilliant manager and much appreciated by your bosses? Please reconsider, Suguna dear. I am sorry for my foolish behaviour all these days.’
Suguna with her eyes misty said that she would go back to work if he stopped drinking beer and that she would thro her placement cell find a good opening for him soon. She found that she was no longer a target of for jealousy or anger. She knew her ‘resignation’ punctured his ego.