Thank God It’s Friday!

In today’s world, where wives are as busy as their husbands, couples have to battle overflowing to-do lists, late nights at office and even working in two different cities in order to spend time together. We talk to three twosomes who have managed to make their marriages work, with only two days a week in each other’s company.

In today’s world, where wives are as busy as their husbands, couples have to battle overflowing to-do lists, late nights at office and even working in two different cities in order to spend time together. We talk to three twosomes who have managed to make their marriages work, with only two days a week in each other’s company.

Vacation every week
Even though they live under the same roof, 35-year-old Samyukta Sharma, an executive at a bank in Mumbai barely gets to see her husband through the week. “My husband works the night shift and mine is a regular nine-to-five job. So I only get to see him during the weekends,” she says. But Samyukta is more than happy with the arrangement and looks forward to spending weekends with her family. “Most couples end up spending their weekends doing chores but we ensure we have the whole time to ourselves,” she says.

Private practice
Twenty-four-year old Gautam Jain works in a Pune-based engineering company and is there on a three-year contract while his fiancée, Kavita Shah, lives in Mumbai. “Ours is an arranged match so we barely get to see each other before the wedding,” says Kavita. After the wedding, Kavita will be living with her in-laws. “Living in different cities is a blessing in disguise for us. If he lived here in Mumbai with his parents, we wouldn’t get any privacy. I look forward to driving down every weekend to be with him,” She says.

All is not well
While weekend marriages gives couples their own space and an opportunity to deeply focus on their respective careers, the picture is not as rosy as it imight seem. Living apart comes with additional bills and petty fights. Twenty-eight-year-old Mansi Paul is studying towards a PhD in San Francisco. Her husband works in San Diego, which is about an hour’s flight away. For the couple, living apart is taking its toll since they are spending twice on everything from rent to groceries. “My stipend barely covers the rent and the flight tickets for my trip. I don’t even know if I will get a job in the same city as my husband, after I finish this degree,” says Mansi. The couple has been unable to save substantially and is seriously considering not having a baby, as they can’t afford it. “It’s difficult, but that’s the price you pay for a decent quality of life. By the time we manage to save any money, it’ll be too late to have a child,” Mansi adds ruefully. Weekend or not, every marriage needs to be worked on by both partners. There’s always a bit of back and forth before you find that sweet spot and live happily ever after. So keep looking!

*All names changed on request

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