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any ideas have been discussed about obedient wives, but no body has written a single word about obedient husbands.

Let me therefore correct the imbalance. I am already an active member of the obedient husbands club, floated by me a few years back. Of course, to become a member, the application has to be forwarded by the wife.

I was an important cog in the government machinery and commanded respect, loyalty and obedience from my staff.

After marriage things changed drastically and the obedience (to the wife) became the only mantra of my life. Anything that I did needed a prior approval and failure to comply invited reprimands, if not reprisals.

On becoming a proud father it was my humble duty to look after feeding the baby, cleaning him up and sing a lullaby to sleep. (I later came to know that our former president Abdurrahman Wahid had the requisite qualifications to be an honorary member of the club.)

Being obedient has advantages too. Once I was given a full-scale dressing down for letting my belly enter the room far ahead of me. I lost 15 kilograms. Another time I was taken to task for soiling my new shirt with tomato ketchup while having breakfast.

I failed to improve myself and bowed to her wish to use a red colored tailor-made bib (baby apron) while sharing food with guests. Also all unhealthy items like butter were banned from the table. She never walked to the car. She would stand on the roadside and expect the car to be driven to her so that the open door was three inches away from her dress.

For the benefit of fellow members I list some other things that are strictly monitored. Wear your specs with a neck string attached; don’t pick your nose; watch TV on a low volume; go to bed by 10 p.m.; and last but not least, always flush the toilet after use.

By the way, membership to the club is open. Only a few seats left.

Manohar Virmani
Jakarta