The Private Life of Mrs Sharma Read Free Page A

here that Doctor Sahib also does quite a lot of charity work. Every Saturday afternoon without fail he goes to a village near Manesar, where he sees village women for free, and every Thursday morning without fail he gives free consultations at the clinic to poor people, poor people like ayahs and washerwomen, and wives and daughters of drivers and gardeners and watchmen.
    I have been working at the clinic for nine years, since Bobby was six years of age. My in-laws and husband don’t mind because the clinic is open from 8.30 am to 12.30 pm and so I am already at home when Bobby comes back from school. I also get free check-ups and treatment. It is a good job.
    But the truth is that it is not my dream job. See, if my mother had not become sick and my father did not have to spend all ofhis income, almost all of it, on her medical bills, I would have been a schoolteacher, a respected schoolteacher in a big school here in Delhi. I had always dreamt of being a schoolteacher. My father also did. Obviously he believed that a girl has to perform all her domestic duties, but he also thought that a girl should work, and because of a schoolteacher’s timings he believed that she could do both. My dream was to do a BEd degree, and my father, who was a very broadminded man, was even ready to send me to Delhi for my studies. But by the time I passed out from school we had no money, and my father actually suffered two heart attacks because of this, so I had to start earning a salary as soon as I could. I enrolled in a secretarial course, which I topped, and the truth is that even if I was studying for a BEd, I think that I could have been a topper. So, as I had planned, I got a job immediately after I completed the secretarial course. I could have worked as a secretary for one of the big lawyers or property dealers of Meerut, but I don’t actually like the types of girls who work as personal secretaries. They can be quite cheap sometimes, quite foolish, flirty and cheap. And what is a secretary actually? Isn’t she just a substitute wife for the boss? Like his wife, she provides tea and snacks for the man and answers the phone for him. Like his wife, she is his protector, keeping him safe from unwanted elements of the world outside. At home his wife protects him from irritating children, interfering relatives, uninvited guests. At work his secretary protects him from unscheduled patients, annoying pharma sales reps, unhappy employees. And I don’t think that I need to tell anybody what else some secretaries do that actually only wives are supposed to do. I think thateverybody knows. Whatever it is, I did not want to do any of these things and that is why I decided to be a receptionist, and I think that it was the right decision.
    So, I worked as a receptionist at a small private hospital for one year that time when I lived in Meerut, before I got married, and now, here in Delhi. But I won’t work at Doctor Sahib’s clinic forever and ever. The truth is that I am not like those other women who have no ambition, who think that work is just timepass that will give them a little bit of pocket money. No. One day, when my husband and I save enough money, I will start a training academy for Office Management, Computer Proficiency, Personality Development and Grooming, Business English, everything. My father used to say that a person’s determination is his real power. I have still not told my husband, but I am determined to have my own business one day.
    But just now I work at Dr Raghubir Singh’s clinic and it is a good job. I have many duties. I type out all the letters, which Doctor Sahib dictates to me because I know shorthand, and I should say here that this is one of the reasons why he respects me, because how many people these days actually know shorthand? I answer calls, I sign for couriers, I do all the filing of patients’ forms and cards, and I take all the payments. I have to make sure that the servants keep the whole clinic