Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume II — Page 137
137 that free men remain firm. This is a minor issue but is very deeply correlated with your reformation. You should decide for yourselves in your hearts whether or not you are free. If you are not free, then say that God has made you a slave and abandon the notion that you should have rights equal to those of men. If you are free , then it is immoral to tell a lie or hide the truth from your husband. Similarly, I observe that women in our country have very little capacity for hard work. The Lajna has been estab lished, and I have directed [women’s] attention towards it many times. Unfortunately, we are still where we were the day we started. How a Woman’s Life can be M ade Useful During your college years you should ponder over the question of how a woman’s life can be continually made more useful. This age - old custom which has been around forever and still continues, that cooking is the sole responsibility of a woman , needs to be changed now. As a result of this, the woman has been solely relegated to the duty of cooking and preparing food. She has no spare time to concentrate on any spiritual, religious, or national tasks. European scholars have collectively deliberated upon this [to find a solution] , which is why their women manage to save a considerable amount of time. For example, they have invented a kind of bread, known as ‘ double roti ’ in our country [sliced bread]. This bread is not made at home by women; it is in fact , store bought , and men, women, and children all eat it. I do not know what is customary in the k ing’s home, whether or not his bread is bought at a shop. B ut in Europe, at least ninety - nine thousand nine hundred and ninety - nine out of one hundred thousand [households] definitely consume commercial bread. They save a great deal of time this way. Likewise, they have invented cookware , like the cooker [pressure cooker] in which meat and vegetables are prepared very quickly. Then they have adjusted their lives in such a way that they routinely eat meals in a restaurant. In E urope, they normally eat four meals in a day: breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, and dinner. Normally the middle class prepare their tea in the morning at home; lunch and afternoon tea is usually taken at a restaurant, and they have the evening meal at home. In addition, because they have a cold climate, a meal prepared at one time can be eaten over a period of several days. Then they have created meals which can be stored. F or example, cold meat. Bread is bought from the store and pieces of cold meat are cut and eaten with the bread. We have a stove always lit in our homes. Now