Sumit Sondhi helps his four-year-old son Ritvik board his school bus in International City.
Sathyan Govindan drops his three-year-old daughter Kiana to school. He feels both partners need to share domestic responsibilities. Image Credit: Arshad Ali and Pankaj Sharma/Gulf News
Dubai: The changing world is not just about women entering domains that were previously restricted to men, the latter are equally adept in performing tasks traditionally seen as a woman's domain.
Be it cooking, helping with household chores like cleaning and laundry or taking care of the children — these tasks are no longer alien to men in Dubai.
Indian expatriate Shilpa Sondhi, who works as a counseller, says: "My husband Sumit contributes equally to the household chores, be it cleaning, doing the laundry or cooking. Many times, if I get late at work, I do not really have to worry about dinner. He also gets our four-year-old son ready for his school and drops him off.
"I had not expected this before I got married as it is usually considered a woman's duty to manage the household, but right from the start, he has been helping and I feel lucky."
On his part, Sumit says: "I quite understand that she faces similar work pressures as I do and helping at home comes naturally to me."
It's a similar story for 35-year-old Randy Carlos from the Philippines. A typical day for his family starts with his wife Sarah cooking while he lays the table and prepares the children for school.
Gender equality
As the cooking is done, Randy seats their daughter Rafielle and son Daille at the dining table. When they finish eating, he helps his wife with the dishes.
"She helps the daughter get ready for school, while I help my son. In the evenings, whoever is back from work early gets the children back from day care and helps them with their school assignments. "It is not really fixed, but we do it together so we can wind up early and spend more time together as a family," says Randy, who works as an accountant.
Both partners sharing their responsibilities has cemented their relationship and the bond with their children.
Chris Tetley, an events professional, who has five-year-old twin daughters, feels sharing responsibilities not only strengthen relationships, but is a lot of fun too. "Being with my twins comes naturally to me and I feel it's the best thing that can happen to anyone. I absolutely enjoy contributing to their growing up and towards other tasks at home. It is important that both partners share their responsibilities."
For Sathyan Govindan, a professional, "the relationship with my three-year-old daughter Kiana is amazing. I love to hear her tales and she enjoys her outings a lot with me. On weekends, when it is just the two of us sometimes going out together, she loves to sit with her babychino as I take my cappuccino," he says. "It might have been considered a woman's duty earlier. But I would not say it's unusual. Work pressures and changed lifestyles require that both the partners share domestic responsibilities."
These fathers feel that their contribution helps them enjoy a better quality of life. "As we share the work, we get to spend more time together. Also, there is not much work piled up for the weekend and each of us gets more leisure time," says Sondhi.
Their wives also find them more caring and sensitive. But for these cosmopolitan men, care-giving and contributing to the household chores is nothing unusual.
