"Dear, I am bored here with you always in office, and with the kids having vacation!" Yes, I knew it what was coming!

"Well I understand! You mean you need an holiday too! When are you planning to go home?"

She had that broad smile on her face,"You are so sweet. Next week, if you can arrange the ticket?"

"Well, let me see. But don't you think you will get bored there? And I will miss you!"

"Oh, come on dear, I will miss you too. But then mummy and daddy will be there, and the kids will have a nice time. I will also have some rest.""Oh, sure, I won't mind. " (never argue with your wife when you love her!).

The D-day eventually came. She had given a lot of instructions on what was to be the breakfast, and what to cook and all such matters. I just nodded, "Ok, now you don't worry about all these things, you know I am an expert cook, aren't I?"

" I know it very well, and that is why I am more worried," she teased me.Well, she was off to her native place. On the first day, as usual, I was still in bed waiting for my bed tea! There was a knock at the door, it was the the milk-walla. It suddenly struck me that for the next thirty days, I am in sole charge of the entire house. It gave me some sort of satisfaction. Well I thought to myself, "I will prove it to her that I can live without a woman in the house! I can look after myself." I set the milk to boil and wondered what should be the day's menu. I should be leaving the house at 10.30 a.m., and it is already 8.30 a.m. With a sudden jolt I realised that something had gone wrong, a glance towards the kitchen revealed that half the milk was spilt on the floor! I had a quick flashback on how I used to shout at my wife when the same incident happened to her. I just consoled myself, well it was a mistake, I will be more careful in future. The time was running fast, I had not taken a bath, nor brushed my teeth, and there were a lot of other things to do too, like cleaning thehouse, and washing the dishes. Well I casually excused myself from all this, no cleaning no washing, no breakfast. I had the milk, with some boiled eggs, and so there was no milk left for tea. For lunch, I decided to eat out, after all, it is only the first day. Eventually I ended having both lunch and dinner outside that day.

The second day, I got up late, with no time to read the newspapers. I just had a quick shower and was off to the office.

The entire week passed by with the same routine. I never tried cooking even once. This way the week-end eventually came and I decided to have a feast alone. I bought chicken and cooked rice. When I tried to prepare the chicken, I realised that there was no onion or lasun among other ingredients. So I darted back to the market, bought, all the necessities. I started cooking , and to my intense irritation I could not find the chicken masala. `'Where is the chicken masala,'' I groaned. I finally found the empty packet! Off I went to the market for the second time, and finally the preparation was cooked in three hours! By this time I got bored, and exhausted and was left with no appetite. When I settled down to eat, the chicken curry had no salt in it !

I decided not to cook at all. I would have to find some mess where I could have my lunch. That evening I called my wife and lovingly asked, " Dear, when will you be back!"