LIVING OF A VIRTUOUS WOMAN

ON THE MANNER OF LIVING OF A VIRTUOUS WOMAN, AND OF HER BEHAVIOUR DURING THE ABSENCE OF HER HUSBAND

A VIRTUOUS woman, who has affection for her husband, should act in conformity with his wishes as if he were a divine being, and with his consent should take upon herself the whole care of his family. She should keep the whole house well cleaned, and arrange flowers of various kinds in different parts of it, and make the floor smooth and polished so as to give the whole a neat and becoming appearance. She should surround the house with a garden, and place ready in it all the materials required for the morning, noon and evening sacrifices. Moreover she should herself revere the sanctuary of the Household Gods, for, says Gonardiya, 'nothing so much attracts the heart of a householder to his wife as a careful observance of the things mentioned above'.

Towards the parents, relations, friends, sisters, and servants of her husband she should behave as they deserve. In the garden she should plant beds of green vegetables, bunches of the sugar cane, and clumps of the fig tree, the mustard plant, the parsley plant, the fennel plant, and the xanthochymus pictorius. Clusters of various flowers such as the trapa bispinosa, the jasmine, the jasminum grandiflorum, the yellow amaranth, the wild jasmine, the tabernamontana coronaria, the nadyaworta, the china rose and others, should likewise be planted, together with the fragrant grass andropogon schaenanthus, and the fragrant root of the plant andropogon miricatus. She should also have seats and arbours made in the garden, in the middle of which a well, tank, or pool should be dug.

The wife should always avoid the company of female beggars, female Buddhist mendicants, unchaste and roguish women, female fortune tellers and witches. As regards meals she should always consider what her husband likes and dislikes and what things are good for him, and what are injurious to him. When she hears the sounds of his footsteps coming home she should at once get up and be ready to do whatever he may command her, and either order her female servant to wash his feet, or wash them herself. When going anywhere with her husband, she should put on her ornaments, and without his consent she should not either give or accept invitations, or attend marriages and sacrifices, or sit in the company of female friends, or visit the temples of the Gods. And if she wants to engage in any kind of games or sports, she should not do it against his will. In the same way she should always sit down after him, and get up before him, and should never awaken him when he is asleep. The kitchen should be situated in a quiet and retired place, so as not to be accessible to strangers, and should always look clean.

In the event of any misconduct on the part of her husband, she should not blame him excessively, though she be a little displeased. She should not use abusive language towards him, but rebuke him with conciliatory words, whether he be in the company of friends or alone. Moreover, she should not be a scold, for, says Gonardiya, 'there is no cause of dislike on the part of a husband so great as this characteristic in a wife'. Lastly she should avoid bad expressions, sulky looks, speaking aside, standing in the doorway, and looking at passers-by, conversing in the pleasure groves, and remaining in a lonely place for a long time; and finally she should always keep her body, her teeth, her hair and everything belonging to her tidy, sweet, and clean.

When the wife wants to approach her husband in private her dress should consist of many ornaments, various kinds of flowers, and a cloth decorated with different colours, and some sweet-smelling ointments or unguents. But her everyday dress should be composed of a thin, close-textured cloth, a few ornaments and flowers, and a little scent, not too much. She should also observe the fasts and vows of her husband, and when he tries to prevent her doing this, she should persuade him to let her do it.

At appropriate times of the year, and when they happen to be cheap, she should buy earth, bamboos, firewood, skins, and iron pots, as also salt and oil. Fragrant substances, vessels made of the fruit of the plant wrightea antidysenterica, or oval leaved wrightea, medicines, and other things which are always wanted, should be obtained when required and kept in a secret place of the house. The seeds of the radish, the potato, the common beet, the Indian wormwood, the mango, the cucumber, the egg plant, the kushmanda, the pumpkin gourd, the surana, the bignonia indica, the sandal wood, the premna spinosa, the garlic plant, the onion, and other vegetables, should be bought and sown at the proper seasons. The wife, moreover, should not tell to strangers the amount of her wealth, nor the secrets which her husband has confided to her. She should surpass all the women of her own rank in life in her cleverness, her appearance, her knowledge of cookery, her pride, and her manner of serving her husband. The expenditure of the year should be regulated by the profits. The milk that remains after the meals should be turned into ghee or clarified butter. Oil and sugar should be prepared at home; spinning and weaving should also be done there; and a store of ropes and cords, and barks of trees for twisting into ropes should be kept. She should also attend to the pounding and cleaning of rice, using its small grain and chaff in some way or other. She should pay the salaries of the servants, look after the tilling of the fields, and keeping of the flocks and herds, superintend the making of vehicles, and take care of the rams, cocks, quails, parrots, starlings, cuckoos, peacocks, monkeys, and deer; and finally adjust the income and expenditure of the day. The worn-out clothes should be given to those servants who have done good work, in order to show them that their services have been appreciated, or they may be applied to some other use. The vessels in which wine is prepared, as well as those in which it is kept, should be carefully looked after, and put away at the proper time. All sales and purchases should also be well attended to. The friends of her husband she should welcome by presenting them with flowers, ointment, incense, betel leaves, and betel nut. Her father-in-law and mother-in-law she should treat as they deserve, always remaining dependent on their will, never contradicting them, speaking to them in few and not harsh words, not laughing loudly in their presence, and acting with their friends and enemies as with her own. In addition to the above she should not be vain, or too much taken up with her enjoyments. She should be liberal towards her servants, and reward them on holidays and festivals; and not give away anything without first making it known to her husband.

Thus ends the manner of living of a virtuous woman.

During the absence of her husband on a journey the virtuous woman should wear only her auspicious ornaments, and observe the fasts in honour of the Gods. While anxious to hear the news of her husband, she should still look after her household affairs. She should sleep near the elder women of the house, and make herself agreeable to them. She should look after and keep in repair the things that are liked by her husband, and continue the works that have been begun by him. To the abode of her relations she should not go except on occasions of joy and sorrow, and then she should go in her usual travelling dress, accompanied by her husband's servants, and not remain there for a long time. The fasts and feasts should be observed with the consent of the elders of the house. The resources should be increased by making purchases and sales according to the practice of the merchants and by means of honest servants, superintended by herself. The income should be increased, and the expenditure diminished as much possible. And when her husband returns from his journey, she should receive him at first in her ordinary clothes, so that he may know in what way she has lived during his absence, and should bring to him some presents, as also materials for the worship of the Deity.

Thus ends the part relating to the behaviour of a wife during the absence of her husband on a journey.

There are also some verses on the subject as follows:

'The wife, whether she be a woman of noble family, or a virgin widow 1 remarried, or a concubine, should lead a chaste life, devoted to her husband, and doing everything for his welfare. Women acting thus acquire Dharma, Artha, and Kama, obtain a high position, and generally keep their husbands devoted to them.

Source: - http://kamashastra.com/kama401.htm

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Chow or Momo?

Today I asked a question in a forum at rediff.com: -
I said:
"My suggestion to all Indians: Between China and Tibet whichever country you support, you should do it based on their food. Which food do you like more? Chinese food or Tibetan food? Chinese food consists of Chow and Tibetan food consists of Momo. If you like Chow more then go for China and if you like Momo more go for Tibet. So you have the full right to choose between the two."

Answer I got from an individual called messengerfromHell:
"sorry . I select based on the babes . Chinese babes are stinky and not cooperative @ ...
Tibetian babes are very pious and down to earth .....and good @
.... I vote for Tibet ."

It became an issue after that and messengerfromHell was answerd by another individual called chetan kotur:
"how do u knw chinese babes are stnky and not cooperative??"

Again messengerfromHell answered:
"I think you are just born. When you are 21 i will tell you the place where to go and find out ..."

It stopped there. I thought it would go on and on but it did not. Thank God.

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Post No: 93rd post

CHOEMEIN

Did you ever eat CHOEMEIN? Yes it is CHOEMEIN. Yes you have heard it right. It is CHOEMEIN. At least some people in the Nandan Cinema Hall Area speak so. There is a fast food centre just beside the western gate on the western part of the Nandan premises. This fast food centre has its Menu Board printed on its wall as shown below. Along with the other food offered there, the shop has Chow as its items. The prices of Chow written as: -

VEGETABLE CHOEMEIN : Rs. 12
EGG CHOEMEIN : Rs. 15
CHICKEN CHOEMEIN : Rs. 18
EGG CHICKEN CHOEMEIN : Rs. 21

So we deduced that the people of this shop call the item called Chow or Chowmein (as many people of India call the food item) as CHOEMEIN.

Gaurav saw this before anyone else and he decided to play a prank with the person sitting on the counter. He went and said “Dada, 3 te CHOEMEIN deben”. The man was ignorant of the spelling of Chowmein written on the Menu Board, but he gazed at Gaurav thinking “Oh! Such an educated man and look how he pronounces Chowmein.” The man laughed in his mind hearing Gaurav say CHOEMEIN.

Hearing Gaurav asking for CHOEMEIN from the man, I had a great laugh in my mind. I wanted to burst out into laughter but somehow controlled myself. But as soon as I came out along with Gaurav to some distance, I did burst out into laughter.

It did not end there, when Gaurav went with the slip to the man serving the items, he again said “Dada, 3 te CHOEMEIN deben". Now I could not stop laughing. I laughed so much that people all around thought that I have gone crazy.

As we had Chowmein, sitting on the garden adjacent to the place, we kept on laughing and telling quite loudly (loud enough so that all the people in that garden area can hear us) among ourselves, that the CHOEMEIN was quite well prepared and we are going to have more CHOEMEIN here in future when we go there.

Hearing us call Chowmein as CHOEMEIN, the people all aroung us thought, “These guys are so big and yet they cannot pronounce the simple word Chowmein.” Had anyone challenged us, we would have shown them the Menu Board where the word CHOEMEIN was written in big letters. But no one challenged us and we were sad that we could not show others the Menu Board.

We were really in a jovial mood that day and a great laugh at the word CHOEMEIN.
I would request anyone & all who reads this post and if he/she lives in Kolkata, to visit the fast food centre in the Nandan area, at lease once and see the word CHOEMEIN through their own eyes. You will enjoy it a lot. Believe me.

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