Heavy pay packet,  has made  our women soft ware engineers  view life from a wrong angle. They seem to  break all rules of moral ethics of South Indian life. Where would this lead them to ultimately ?  It’s anybody’s guess.

The first thing they think of is to release themselves  from parental control. So,  they leave their home bag and baggage, despite sweet appeals amounting to begging, and  live on their own in cottages or flats.   Do they cook their own food?  Never, this is an art they have not or have refused to learn at home much against her mother’s will.  There are umpteen number of eateries in the city  in   addition to the canteen at the work place.  So food  is no problem at all for these single women.  Oh, how they love their independence ! They can return to their  ‘living place’ any time they like,  take a lift from any gent and reach the house in any physical state. After office time, they could go where they like.  No questions asked including a friend who lives likewise but one  who has a  little  bit of conscience -pinch.

Do several software engineering women combine and lead a joint life, say something like  a mini hostel. Never. What for ?  They could afford the cost.  To each her own, is the rule.

Life becomes  somewhat boring for Vandana after a few months of  ‘loneliness’. She does miss  her  mother and brother/sister but then she  soon cast them aside  and focuses her mind  on  a greener pasture. “Why not live with a man?” her mind suggests.  “ No, no, not marriage, dash it. Marriage has too many strings attached to it…”  In marriage she won’t get the same amount of freedom of action as a single girl. Why not  a via media – live with a man, enjoy  his company and closeness, which of course includes sex, and yet wander as she wishes. This is called the ‘live in arrangement’. The single software engineer, Vandana,  loves this arrangement;  it’s a kind of best of  both the worlds . “What if she gets pregnant ?”

Don’t be silly man.  You are asking foolish questions. Doesn’t she know how to avoid pregnancy without going in  for abortions? Further,  there are these great ‘pills’

Vandana,  had a heart  to heart talk with Ranjan, who was  working in the same Company. She came straight to the point without going round  and round in circles.  Ranjan said ‘okay’ and he moved into her cottage with all his possession which was just one steel trunk.  Life was grand for Vandana. No responsibility and no restrictions of any kind and she enjoyed all pleasures of life.  She was a free bird and yet she had a nest for two. One day all of sudden, she felt she was making a positive   way into Ranjan’s heart and was  trying to find a permanent place for herself there.

After some six months of living-in,  she thought that she had a lien on her man.

She questioned him one day about his closeness to Kalpana, a colleague.  “She is a real chick, isn’t she?” Ranjan remarked.

“Chick, my foot,” Vandana exploded.  “You are mine, my property understand?  Keep away from that slouch,  understand?”

Ranjan disagreed wholesale.  After all he was also a free bird. “In live-in arrangement dear Vandana, there is nothing binding, nothing perpetual, you know” he apprised her.  “One can break it any time and leave for good, don’t you know that ?”

Vandana was burning with fury. She couldn’t  accept her man’s view on the issue. She did have some  knowledge on  personal law of the land. She thought she had.  So, she lodged an FIR at the nearest police station and also initiated a case in the High court.  What was the charge?  “Desertion, neglect… and so on.”  Ranjan was duly informed of the court proceedings.  He had a quiet laugh in his sleeves.

Though lakhs  of cases were  pending in the courts, her State High Court was considerate enough to take up Vandana’s case with minimum delay.  The judge didn’t take long to pronounce his verdict.  “Are they married by Indian law?” he demanded of the lawyer. “No your honour.  Only live-in arrangement…”

“Live- in?,” the judge echoed back very loudly.  “Case dismissed. On the live- in set up, one can abandon the alliance any time.  There is no commitment on any  one’s part.  Next case …”

Poor Vandana’s heart sank.  She had begun to like Ranjan.  He was a nice guy. She wanted him to live with her for ever.

“Good bye, Vandana” Ranjan bid her adieu on the following morning. “I am going to live with Kalpana from this evening.  She is a chick, you see?  So long, Vandana.”

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