Of Homemakers And Housewifery Poem by Gayathri Seetharam

Of homemakers and housewifery
-Gayathri B. Seetharam
Jacqueline Winspear in her book, Journey to Munich,
Has said through the voice of her heroine and an incidental character
That she could not languish at home
And must find work that pays;

I did think this way when I was in graduate school
And not for a moment, did I imagine
That the burning desire in me could ever be extinguished
The desire to become the head of research or the CEO of a chemical/biochemical engineering company;

Having a beautiful baby did not diminish the fierce ambition
That I possessed in reasonable abundance
And it seemed to be a bit of a humiliation for me
To be stuck at home with a baby, however adorable;

I was a little unhappy during my early motherhood days
And respite from homemaking at which, thanks to my mother's efforts
And helpful recipes and tips from family friends and friendly neighbours,
I am a natural
But am overwhelmed by the sheer effort needed,
Came to me when my baby was 22 months old;

And triumphantly, I have to say, that I worked
For both university and corporate research offices
With the same adorable child who could be trying at times
And lived life for some time to the fullest and the busiest;

For some time in between, sad years followed
And I became severely depressed but turned a smiling face to the world at large
My husband was a pillar of support during this time
But he was also largely unsuspecting
And my dear son grew up;

Now that he is 19 years of age and fairly able to take care of himself
And I am a bit of a success
Widely published on the internet
I would be overjoyed if I could be paid with money for my efforts;

And if I think about it, there is not a single name that come to mind
A name which along with climbing the social ladder
Is a celebrity in homemaking alone
And this is despite its prevalence in society
Which is quite predominant inspite of feminism's widespread reality;

It is an unsung profession
For its relative merits lie in the fact
That one must languish at home
And simultaneously lavish presence in the kitchen
And be miss"ish" and resort to femininity over feminism many a time
And eventually, one begins to relish homemaking.