The perverted adulation for boys in north India is hitting middle class women in an unusual manner. Many women are complaining of being under enormous stress with resultant health problems such as insomnia, high blood pressure and depression. A little probing reveals that stress is being caused by their adorable sons being unable to hold down any job for any length of time. In my childhood we used to refer to these fellows as
' sonubabas ' or ' golden boys '. They have been brought up as little sultans with every wish fulfilled. They do not know how to cook, cannot iron their clothes and are too lazy to even make up their beds. They pass out of some second rate engineering institute with a bachelor's degree and think that the world owes them a living for doing nothing. They expect to start as chairman of a multinational, work some three hours a day, get a salary of Rs. 1 million a month and have a pretty secretary to serve coffee. Unfortunately the real world pays much less and demands hard work. Women have no such problems. Brought up as second class they are happy to work ten hours a day for Rs. 25000 a month. They are thus seen as valuable by their employers, are promoted and seldom sacked in a recession. Mothers, meanwhile, are highly stressed. As you sow etc etc.