FIFTH COLUMN

Women

By C K Lal

Men love to portray women as enigmas. No less a person than Sigmund Fred himself is reported to have said, “The great question that has never been answered and which I have not yet been able to answer, despite my thirty years of research into the feminine soul, is: what does a woman want? Someone should have retorted, “That’s fraud, Sigmund!”

A child can’t survive, let alone grow and prosper, without understanding his mother-real or surrogate. At a very early age, he becomes adept at manipulating his mother by crying, by throwing tantrums or even by smiling. A mother too knows all the tricks of her child, but she bears it all bravely. And what does the male child gives here back in return when he is old enough to know better? Call her an enigma! A crying shame, if anything can be called so. Of course, all a mother wants is love.

Boys do not bother much about cooking, washing and cleaning, and they would be at a loss if given thread and needle to mend a shirt or fix a button. It is always a sister who helps mother or even a grown up brother. Imagine an ungrateful brother calling his own sister a riddle! A little affection is perhaps more in order by way of gratitude.

Men who have been fortunate enough to have women as friends would know how special the relationship is. Friendship with other men needs constant attention, but one can rely on a woman without having the fear of being misunderstood or even appearing rude. It is a very sex-obsessed mind that calls a woman an eternal question, someone like Sigmund Freud. Of course, she wants love of the purest kind — the bond of friendship.

The best woman-friend a man can ever have, and that too forever, is his wife. Conditioned by the values of more than five thousands years of human history, a man contributes very little to the relationship, and yet expects the world from his marriage. His stock answer, that he can’t understand what a woman wants, is in fact an excuse not to give what she really wants. How can one understand without a bit of understanding? All a wife ever wants is love, she knows that the rest follows almost automatically.

Male heir may be an obsession, but every father knows in his heart of hearts that actually it’s a daughter that is really special. She is ever ready to be of help around the house, and all she expects in return is love.

It’s insane to call any women an enigma. She is love personified, and as she distributes love, she expects nothing more than love in return. Today is the Women’s Day, and on this special occasion, I dedicate this column to the four most beautiful women in my life—my other, my sister, by wife and my daughter.

An MCP? Who, me? Felicitations, my lady-friends, all the same!