Why
should
only
women
cook
and
do
the
laundry,
asks
actress-entrepreneur
Shilpa
Shetty,
who
feels
men
should
contribute
equally
to
household
chores
to
ease
out
a
woman's
responsibilities.
She
also
feels
this
give
and
take
goes
a
long
way
into
a
happily
ever
after.
Shilpa,
who
is
married
to
businessman
Raj
Kundra,
credits
her
husband
for
helping
her
out
in
household
work
whenever
needed
and
thereby
maintaining
a
balanced
life.
"There
is
lot
of
give
and
take
needed
in
a
relationship
and
that's
how
it
works.
That
makes
the
relationship
interesting," Shilpa
told
over
phone
from
Mumbai.
"There
are
a
lot
of
men
who
do
the
laundry
and
I
would
like
to
say
that
Raj
is
one
of
those
men.
Whenever
we
travel
abroad,
where
we
don't
have
any
help,
we
help
ourselves.
There
is
nothing
to
feel
sorry
about,"
said
the
mother
of
son
Viaan,
who
will
turn
two
later
this
year.
"I
would
want
my
son
to
help
his
partner
when
he
is
a
grown-up
man," she
said.
Shilpa's
stand
comes
in
reaction
to
a
Nielsen
India
Survey,
supported
by
Ariel
India
,
conducted
on
Indian
households
across
five
cities
which
revealed
that
more
than
two-thirds
of
Indian
women
feel
the
existence
of
inequality
between
men
and
women
at
home.
She
says
it
is
upsetting
how
Indian
society
teaches
girls
-
but
not
boys
-
to
learn
skills
like
cooking
and
doing
the
laundry.
"I
just
think
that
one
need
to
also
condition
young
boys
and
that's
when
you
will
have
a
new
and
brighter
India," she
said.
The
39-year-old,
who
has
been
married
for
over
five
years,
salutes
"all
women
who
are
homemakers".
"I'm
not
a
feminist
but
a
responsible
woman.
I
salute
all
the
women
who
are
homemakers
and
I
think
that's
the
most
difficult
job.
There
is
no
day
off.
Women
are
not
only
going
out
and
earning
bread
and
butter
but
also
looking
after
the
family," she
said.
To
cite
an
example
of
a
woman's
quandary,
Shilpa
said,
"Cooking
is
difficult
for
all
the
men.
I
love
to
cook
and
I
cook
in
a
while,
but
if
I
am
made
to
cook
every
day,
that
will
get
on
my
nerves.
So,
if
men
can
help
in
something
as
small
as
the
laundry,
then
why
not?"
she
added.
Shilpa
may
be
a
celebrity
to
the
outside
world,
but
at
heart,
she
says,
she's
still
the
girl
who
comes
from
a
middle
class
background
and
has
seen
her
father
helping
her
mother
in
household
work.
"I've
seen
both
my
parents
work
really
hard...my
dad
used
to
do
the
house's
laundry.
When
we
were
young,
the
washing
machine
was
just
introduced,
so
I
remember
my
dad
waiting
for
the
weekend
only
to
help
my
mother
do
the
laundry,"
said
the
actress,
whose
association
with
Bollywood
goes
back
to
almost
two
decades.
During
her
film
career,
she
delivered
hits
including
Main
Khiladi
Tu
Anari,
Dhadkan
and
Life...
in
a
Metro.
Not
only
in
India,
she
gained
international
recognition
after
featuring
and
winning
Britain's
"Big
Brother"
reality
show
in
2007.
Besides,
she
is
also
running
her
IOSIS
spa
and
wellness
chain
and,
to
top
it
all,
she
is
even
a
film
producer.