Changing Times
Abha Iyengar
It is a different society now. We can have four husbands, if we like, quite unlike in Khomeini's time, when men could have four wives and each was at the husband's beck and call.
We have a female Prez, and she calls the shots. I have three husbands who follow me around like sheep. I don't know, though, how good it is to have so many guys dependent on you. I can only earn so much as a model.
Moreover, I come home exhausted, and though Hashim is only too willing to press my feet, he also buzzes around me like a fly, trying to suck on my sweetness, so to speak. I cannot offer him my sweetmeats all the time, and he hates sharing.
As for Altaf, he is like a cockroach, running here and there into corners, wondering when I may swat him next. I never do that, though, where is the energy?
The third husband, Janasheen, is a heart-throb, my latest acquisition, but I may tire of him soon. He is not very useful round the house, too, just likes to sit and admire himself before the mirror, most times.
Did I say Hashim was like a fly?
Why, sometimes I feel like one, entrapped in a web of my own making.
The other day someone, an elderly gentleman, offered me one of his sons to take as a husband. Could I afford to feed another mouth? Perhaps this husband could take care of the house better. I will ask about his capabilities next time the offer is repeated.
Thank God we did away with childbirth some time ago. Of course, the husbands would take care of the kids, but I hate having sniveling, crying children around. And the expenses would have been phenomenal.
Now the gene pool is a valid answer. Whoever desires a kid, picks one up from the common pool, and hopes for the best. Not many people producing now, so there is a long wait.
Anyway, I better shut the lights off, and request Hashim not to press my feet too hard.
He seems to be kissing them.
Here we go again. He doesn't seem to realize that I have a hard day's work ahead at the office, while he just cooks and cleans and removes a few cobwebs from the windows.