It is a well known fact that the Lion abandons the lioness and its cubs once they are born and it is the duty of the Lioness to bring up the children on her own. In the Indian family system, except for the abandoning aspect, the situation was more or less the same. The mother was expected to engrave all the good manners on the child's mind while the father's contribution was restricted to supervising the process and providing for their expenses. You can say the Father was the headmaster and the mother was the teacher. I call men of such times as the traditional men who did not have a revolutionized pro-active view towards their role in the household and who restricted the ambit of their contribution to the family with stereotypical focus......A new breed of men with a modern outlook is fast growing. This breed brushes all the ideologies of the traditional men under the carpet. They have started to emerge slowly but surely in our society- And are making their presence felt. I call them Renaissance Men.I was first introduced to this term in a short story By Khushwant Singh called," The Princess of Kahin Nahin". I liked this term. Infact I loved it. The lead protagonist in the short story defines this term as a league of Modern men with innovative thinking.However I bid to differ here, and have derived my own definition of Renaissance Men. Men who are more open to the dynamic change in the ever altering societal fabric where both the partners are working under different time and stress conditions, Men who oblige by the sudden shift in their roles and responsibility and who are not scared to perform and give it their best, Men who are not chauvinistic fools and who accept the fact that their female partner is busy and tired and realize that they should contribute in shouldering the house-hold responsibilities...they are my Renaissance Men!Ahaaaa! Sounds like something that is so fantasy like. I am sure the ladies might think I am day dreaming. But yeah Renaissance Men exist. The trend has shifted its base. We are now heading towards the unattainable and away form the beaten path. Working men have become more sensitive towards the plight of the second sex than earlier and have agreed to help.In a traditional Indian family setup a man was expected to control the finance front while their female counter part handles the home front. Since the ladies have started working, this rule has gone for a full toss. The conventional system has been challenged and has gone for a complete face lift where the responsibilities are shared by both partners on both fronts equally. Surprised? Well I was too until I witnessed this sea change actually occurring.Like for example, I know this lovely couple who works in a BPO and in 3 different shifts. They have a 5 year old kid who needs to be taken care of. Each day they adjust their shift such that at least one of them is there with the child to take care of his needs. The husband cooks for his family and shows no pretence when explaining the logic behind. When I questioned him on his stance he answered candidly-"The family belongs to both and both should put equal efforts in making life easier. It is a implied condition of our partnership". Hmm unbelievable but true.A distant acquaintance of mine - a couple where the lady of the house works in odd shifts has her husband doing the household duties including cleaning, cooking and chores. Another example is that where a baby only few months old is being handled by his dad when the mother is away on some important work, so effortlessly that you are left in a complete awe. This trend will take some time to get social acceptance but the wheels of change have already been set in motion. This is not the battle for sexes; it’s the battle for leading a happy and healthy life together with your partner. We have accepted metrosexual men, we can definitely welcome this change!To conclude, I have gathered from all of my observations that these Renaissance men are not love fools neither are they too naive to accept whatever their wives say, they are matured, understanding and pragmatic set of intelligent men who have accepted that Family wins hands down over their false male ego.
