Pratul Bagri, February 17, 2015

A woman in Noida has publicly demanded her husband for another son in order to reuse the clothes of their elder child again. She is on an indefinite dharna in her colony.

Addressing reporters, the husband accused her of “emotional-blackmailing” him over this.

“Failure to impregnate within three months will lead to divorce,” Monisha Sarabhai said flatly in a Facebook video. “My two-year-old is already growing out of his clothes. What do you expect me to do? Throw the clothes away? Terms are non-negotiable. I want another son.”

She further said: “We do not believe in charity. The clothes will be used by my son, then by his next sibling. After that, I will use them to make clothes for the family dog, and finally the clothes will be used as pocha (rag).”

The husband, Sahil Sarabhai, is not pleased. He has called it a ploy to have sex. “I am not a baby-making machine, she should stop looking at me like a sex object,” he said.

The woman’s dharna and her commitment to uphold the cheap Indian mentality has moved middle-class women to tears. Many have flocked to her colony to show their support. One of them, Rani Ahuja, is the mother of a cricket team, and talked to us.

Ahuja explained how the reuse-clothes model could help save money. One old jeans equals three brand new shorts for younger kids, she said.

“Take two full shirts of contrasting colours,” she said. “Cut off their sleeves. Switch them and sew them on. Voila, you have two John Abraham-type funky looking shirts. And, wastage of clothes? Zero. Tell me that is not a brilliant idea.”

She raised a placard saying, “You have no idea how much we can save from this.”