By L. V. B. CHOWDARY

The Home is the centre of life in every country and community. Even in pre-historic times, man built a home for himself where his activities were centred. No doubt, home-life was then in its crudest form and confined to the narrowest limits. But man's activities too were very limited in those times. The Home is also a social unit. In the early stages of human development, the Home could not have been a social unit, since there was no settled community, but as civilization advanced, it became more and more a unit of society. And it is very much so now- Not only in civilized communities, but even amongst barbarians, we may find the rudiments of the Home as a social unit. The Home is, in all its essentials, common both to Eastern and Western communities. If we leave out the variations due to race, climate, geography or culture, then, the Western Home is not very much different from the Hindu Home. The interests and impulses, the ideas and ideals that dominate and govern the Home are the same to all nationalities and communities.

In this article I shall treat largely of English home-life, because I know it best and also because it is typical of what we conceive to be Western home-life.

CONSTITUTION OF THE HOME

The Western Home consists of husband and wife and family-servants, and often a dog or a cat also. It is not a joint family in any sense but is a unitary one. The father, his sons, their children and grand-children do not live together for generations like a small community, because the Westerner does not care to live in groups. He is essentially a man who loves the solitude of his Home and the comforts of family-life. His wife and children are just enough responsibility to tend and care for. When his children grow up and get married, they themselves seek to live their own lives. It is quite wrong to say that they are forcibly cut off from the parent stock to drift along as best they can. As a matter of fact, some parents try to have their married sons at home and some married children do live in the old Home with their parents.

The father in the West is the head of the family more than he is in the Hindu joint family, where the system of coparcenary makes him the manager of the family and a trustee for his children. The mother has until recently occupied a somewhat subordinate position in the matter of real authority in the Home but of late, her influence has increased by leaps and bounds. Now she shares the leadership of the family with her husband. The sons and daughters remain with their parents until they grow up and enter into some walk of life or other, or get married.

In every community, there have been hereditary servants. Hereditary service is a very mild form of slavery and serfdom. In the West, it is a product of Feudalism which gave nobility to birth and servility to servants. In Western countries, aristocratic families still possess hereditary servants though the latter are fast disappearing. The hereditary servants form part of the household and they share the joys and sorrows of the family they serve. Their prosperity is linked with the well-being of their masters and they serve their masters very faithfully and obediently. And the masters in their turn treat them with kindness and affection and look after their interests. Those who have no hereditary servants keep ordinary servants who are with them until their services are dispensed with. And they do not belong to, or form part of, the family.

Sometimes a dog or a cat becomes an appanage to the household. Either the parents or their issue may make a pet of it. A dog is very good company to man and will accompany him on his walks. Besides, it protects the house and its surroundings. A cat is a very pretty domestic animal and may become a toy in the hands of a woman.

MAINTENANCE OF THE HOME

As everywhere else, the father has in the Western Home been the bread-winner. It has been his duty and custom to provide his wife and children with food, clothing and shelter. Now this sole responsibility to maintain the Home has been very seriously challenged by his wife. She thinks that she is entitled to contribute to the family exchequer and she is so doing by her manual or intellectual labour, especially in the lower-middle and labouring classes. The women of the aristocratic and upper-middle classes are still fed and clothed by their husbands, but they also have begun to realise the insidiousness of economic dependence, and so, some of them at least have taken to various vocations to earn money. When the husband alone earns and maintains the Home, he expects the wife to confine herself solely to the limits of the household and does not like to allow her much scope for activities outside the home-life and the development of her individuality. The wife of to-day is not content with mere house-keeping. So she says she can as well earn and not be a slave in the kitchen. If necessary, mechanical devices may be employed to help doing the domestic work.

MANAGEMENT OF THE HOUSEHOLD

From the earliest times, woman has been considered the Queen of the Home. But her power in the house was limited to the internal management of the household. On the other hand, man has had for centuries the sole control of the Home and its affairs. Now the wife has undermined his supreme authority by exacting equal status and voice with her husband. But it is still her job generally to look after the food. In cases where servants are a luxury, she cooks and serves the food herself, even without the help of a char- woman. But in rich and aristocratic houses, there are butlers who are heads of servants, and these are often hereditary men. They allot work to the servants and get things done by them. They are given some discretionary powers in the management of the kitchen, etc., and they use their powers autocratically, though within certain well-defined limits. But of course, the ultimate responsibility of seeing everyone in the family properly fed falls upon the wife, and it is not infrequently that she gets the blame for a bad dinner. Still, there are exceptions. If 'My Lady' is as much a social 'out-going' person as 'My Lord,' then, the butler may get into all the trouble that anyone can get into for a spoiled appetite. The domestic purse is in her hands and she uses it according to her discretion.

Both father and mother are responsible for their children's well-being. There are of course father's or mother's 'darlings' to whom the father or mother may be especially 'nice.' But on the whole, both husband and wife share equally the joys and sorrows the children bring. They feel equal responsibility for their proper upbringing, education and settling down in life. In India, the father has taken, and he is still taking, the chief part in the conduct of his children's education. In the West too, the father has had up till recently greater voice with regard to his children but the mother has successfully challenged his exclusive right in that respect also. Now they have, concerning their children, equal authority and responsibility and equal rights and duties. On the other hand, boys and girls respect and obey both their parents equally. They receive the utmost kindness and consideration from their parents, who love and cherish them and become their friends and companions. Children in the West often love their parents because they are brought up lovingly by the parents who become, as it were, their sweet-hearts and playmates. They generally respect their father and mother because they are often given the best their parents can afford and because everything is done for their good. They also obey their parents not so much because they fear their displeasure as because they feel that they ought, in loving duty, to obey. As a rule, the relations between parents and children are like those between chums and lovers. We, in the East, do not know or experience half the joys of parental companionship and intimacy that Western children are privileged to know and experience.

Now for the servants. If there is a butler in the house, who is, as I have already mentioned, the head of the servants and who has a supervision over them, he is responsible for their proper behaviour and good service. He and other servants are equally subject to the authority of both husband and wife and they obey them both equally. But the husband may have a valet who is his personal servant just as his wife may engage a woman as her personal maid. These servants obey their respective masters primarily, and on the whole neither the husband nor the wife has any rights over the servant of the other. But the wife has a general supervising control over the domestic servants. The servants in the West are treated fairly well. They are in fact much better treated than we treat ours. If the servant is born and bred on the estate or in the service of the master, he is treated like a member of the family, though as a subordinate one. Even if he is a servant employed for the time being, he is treated well because, for one thing, slave-driving is not appreciated by the Westerners in their own homes, and for another, the servants themselves do not put up with ill-treatment. Western countries' have for a long time had some sort of stir among the people, and the labouring classes have got out of the way of thinking that they are inferior beings born to slave and to be trampled upon.¹

DOMESTIC LIFE

Routine work in any Home may be dull to its members but it is full of interest to strangers to whom it is a new thing. In the West it is generally cold during the greater part of the year, and snow, hail and fog are not uncommon there. So the manner of going to bed and getting up in the morning is different from ours. People in the West generally retire and rise later than we do. On wintry days this is occasioned by cold. In summer too they retire late because they have the sun there till 10 in the evening. They may like to get up early, but then they may not have had enough sleep. In winter and all through the cold spell, that is, for about eight months in the year, they have fire or central heating in their houses and if they can afford it, they will have them in their bedrooms also. Except when it is hot, which is a rare occurrence in countries like England, people sleep in the bed under blankets and rugs, which are tucked right under the bed. Sometimes a silk quilt also is spread on the top of the blankets and rugs. You get into the bed as if you are getting into a sack which is from 4 to 6 inches high. When they go to bed, they put on pyjamas which are a short shirt and a loose pants. When it is cold, they put hot water bottles in the bed to warm it. The bottles are made either of stone or of rubber. It is customary to wish 'good-night' when retiring for the night and the wish is generally accompanied either by a kiss or a shake of hands. Family members like parents, brothers, sisters, sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law kiss each other good-night. Sometimes close friends have the same privilege. All others must be content with the shaking of hands or a smile. Men do not kiss men, even though they are bosom friends or loving brothers, but the women kiss not only men but women also. Women kiss each other on even a slender acquaintance and on every pretext. They sometimes kiss even their worst women-enemies. It is quite amusing to see some women pecking away at each other. In the case of 'grown-ups' the kiss is given either on the cheek or the forehead.

In the morning, one may hear a knock or two at the door of one's bedroom, which means that the servant is waking one up or bringing up bed-tea. In cold countries, one must have something hot as soon as he wakes up to warm his body and to move his bowels. So they take a cup of hot tea in England and they may munch a biscuit or two at the same time. There is no bed-tea in Latin countries, but hot coffee is taken in Northern countries like Germany. After the bed-tea, hot water, except in summer, is brought for your toilet. After toilet, the general rule is to dress before one comes down for breakfast. As you come down, you wish, 'good morning' to whomsoever you meet for the first time in the morning, and you are in turn wished. As in the case of retiring for the night, you may bestow or be bestowed upon a kiss or a peck on the mouth, cheek, brow, nose or chin by the members of the family, or by those who consider themselves privileged to do so. You start your day with good wishes all round, and if it is not fruitful or happy, it is nobody's fault. At breakfast, a person finds his favourite newspaper ready on the table and he will have a glance through it. The news- paper in Europe has become a necessary item in the breakfast. You can as well think of breakfast without bread and butter as without your favourite newspaper. Almost all the important newspapers in the West are published in the morning and they are sent out very early indeed. You can get your paper by 6-30 A.M. by which time many people will not get up. It is not uncommon that, in ordinary houses or when there is no company, the adult members will be reading their newspapers at the breakfast-table as if they were munching their bread or biscuits. All the members of the family sit together at the same time and if possible at the same table for their meals, and if one finishes sooner, he will wait for the rest to finish their eating unless he has something to do and has got to get away. In that case he excuses himself. In the West people eat slowly and at leisure and they have made the eating time an occasion for conversation and social intercourse. So all sorts of things including those just read in the paper or those which they forgot to mention the previous evening and were remembered over night, may be talked of or discussed about. When eating food, people in the West observe what are called 'table manners.' They are the unframed rules or conventions which guide the conduct of persons at the dinner-table and the manner of eating their food. In accordance with these manners, you should not, for instance, make noise with your knives and forks or when you are taking your soup nor should you eat your peas with a knife. If your, neighbour at the table wants salt, you should pass it on to him and he must say 'thank you' to you. If he wants anything, he must very nicely ask you 'Will you please' or 'would you mind' to pass it on. You are expected to look pleasant and to be enjoying your food. Eating in silence is bad form. Children also come under the authority of table manners. Parents are very strict at the table with their children. They should not grin or wink at others, but they are not expected to chatter a way. They should eat in silence when there is company and leave the elders to do all the talking in the name of good manners. Even when there are no visitors, they have not much chance to prattle.

The second meal in England is luncheon and it is eaten either in the office where it is taken or in a restaurant near the place of work. But sometimes the man or woman may come home for it. The leisured classes may go out to a good restaurant and have a 'jolly good food' or they may have a sumptuous meal in their own home. In any case, it is quite an enjoyable meal for them, but, for those who work or labour, it is a hurried meal. In the country, in England, the midday meal is considered dinner, i.e., the chief meal of the day, so that all the nicest things of the day are eaten at that meal between 12-30 and 1-30. The French and other Latin peoples have a very light breakfast which is generally eaten in their bed-rooms, but they make the eating of lunch an art. One must see a Frenchman eating his lunch to realise what extraordinary lust for eating there is in the human heart and how a man can fall in love with his food. You would think he is violently flirting with his adored, nay more, that he is realising the raptures of a fulfilled love. He is all joy-his eyes dancing merrily and happily and his tongue wagging like the proverbial tail of the dog.

Tea is generally taken at 4 in the after-noon. But in the country and by the artisan and labouring classes in the towns and cities, what is called 'high tea,' is taken between 5 and 6-30 P.M. When high tea is taken, there is no evening dinner at 7 or 8 o'clock. There is only supper which is a light meal consisting of some hot broth, or soup with bread and butter and with an occasional toast. High tea and light supper are very convenient in summer, to those who are employed in some service or other, because after the tea they can go out with their family to enjoy the sun and the air and they can return in time for a light supper and then sleep. The moneyed classes with plenty of leisure can really have a very enjoyable tea. They can have it in their beautifully decorated and warmly comfortable drawing-room in winter, and in summer, they may partake of it on the spacious terrace of their country mansion or under the glorious chestnut tree or in the neatly trimmed lawn. If they care, they can go to the dansant where they can have exquisite tea over some pleasant gossip or take a turn in the dance floor to the tunes of the latest jazz.

In well-to-do families; dinner is the principal meal which is got up as luxurious and enjoyable as possible. The Englishman loves a good table but he loves also a bit of show and ceremony. Dinner in an English Home is made an occasion for the display of the status, wealth and dignity of the family. Men and women dress for it and the servants are neatest and on their best behaviour. As many members of the family as can possibly muster are present at the dinner. With all the formality and austerity of the occasion, it is a very enjoyable meal and the gathering is after all a family one. The diners have a pleasant and even a merry time. Dinner is the most important meal and the best occasion for social intercourse in other Western countries also. Westerners as a people drink and on the Continent of Europe wines, spirits and beverages are taken at odd times and at all meals. But it is at dinner that the English drink best and most. After dinner, they withdraw to the drawing-room when the mother or the girl may play on the piano and the boys may help them with music. There may be a general con versation or there may be a game of cards, billiards or draughts. Or they may put the gramophone on and dance to it. The time after dinner is the best time for family con versation and the most intimate family relations. In fact, it is the life-breath of a home.

In big houses, servants have separate quarters to sleep or to live in, and they take their meals in the kitchen. They have separate crockery for their use. Among peasants you find an agricultural servant taking his meal at his master's table, and in the houses of fairly big farmers also the servant may, when there are no visitors, occupy a comer of the family table. In the lower-middle classes, the maid servant or the charwoman, if there is any, has generally her meals with the family. Even though one who is in some pretty decent job, or is earning fairly well and has therefore some sort of social status, may not like the servant to sit with him when there are others, he will find it convenient to let the servant take her meals at the same table along with him or his wife.

The relations inter se of the members of the family are, on the whole, cordial and affectionate. As I have mentioned above, the parents love their children and are very friendly and social with them, and the children in their turn love and respect their parents. Among the children themselves, there is affection and friendship and they are often playmates and 'pals.' From their very childhood, boys and girls are taught to control their feelings and emotions and they are not allowed to get into fits of anger or to burst out crying. Bad temper in children is detested most in the West and every sort of worrying and vexing and of getting sulky or cross is discountenanced. Children are also taught what to expect from and what to give to each other, and they are content and happy if they are not worried or interfered with by their brothers or sisters. There seems to be a general understanding among them that they should live in harmony and friendship and everyone tries his or her best to maintain and reinforce an esprit de corps.

MARRIAGE

Marriage is really more of a social event than of a family affair. All the same, it is an occurrence of great importance to the Home, not only because it is the foundation of another Home, but also because, being the greatest event in a man's or woman's life, it causes vibrations and changes in the Home-life. In India our Aryan ancestors chose their spouses themselves, but owing to various causes into which we need not go here, the present practice of marriage has come into operation and it permits parents to select the bride or bridegroom for their son or daughter. And for many centuries past, early marriage has been the rule in Hindu Society in many parts of India. But in Europe, people, like our ancestors of old, let their sons and daughters select spouses for them- selves, of their own free-will. This self-choice, Swayamvara, is the principle underlying the marriage system in. the West, though we know that it is not always put into practice. There is no doubt that, until recently, parents had a controlling voice in the choice of spouses by their sons and particularly by their daughters, and that even to-day in Latin countries like France and Spain, boys and girls have got very much to consider, though not obey, the wishes of their parents on the question of marriage. Yet, self-choosing is a recognised fact. Before the choice is made, courtship is begun which is mainly the man's business. In Victorian days, wooing was not possible until the father gave permission to do so to the young man who was seeking his daughter's hand. So, in a way, the choice had already been made, before the girl blushingly said 'yes' to the outpourings of a nervous and excited youth which went by the polite name of 'a proposal of marriage.' But the leave of the father to court his daughter no way bound the daughter to accept the youth. If she did not accept him, the mere fact of the permission given by the father to woo, would not weigh against her. Nowadays no permission of the father is sought or given for a young man to pay his addresses to the, lady of his fancy. People were very particular about introductions in the days gone by, and a girl could not speak to a man who was not properly introduced to her. In these post-war days, no introductions are insisted on, and if a boy and a girl will talk to one another, nobody can stop them from doing so. Girls are going out so much and without chaperons too-a thing which was never heard of in pre-war days-you can meet them in all sorts of places. It is quite in order to go up to a girl in a dancing-hall or a restaurant, and ask for the pleasure of a dance with her, though you will have to do so with a bow to the gentleman or lady with whom she is. There are, I grant, people who even to-day insist upon introductions on such occasions, but I am afraid their number is already small. I think the girl would not be too particular about having been introduced before, if the young man looks pleasant and respectable. In the olden days, courting used to be entirely one-sided and even in these ultra-modern days, woman does not actually propose (except on the stage in a play that has Leap Year in it). She does not mind to reciprocate wooing which may occasionally degenerate into flirtation and also to lead up to the actual proposal.

In the pre-war years, especially in what are called the Victorian times, girls did not go about very much and their male acquaintances were not many. At the present time, girls know everybody and everything worth knowing about, and they have no illusions about the male human beings. They are not easily taken in by the honeyed words of designing young men as the maidens of the Victorian Era used to be, and they have no faith in high-sounding sentimental phrases. They heartily distrust all things that savour of romanticism. As a matter of fact, the girl of to-day has become prosaic and it is not j easy to please her. So, courtship has become very arduous for a young man of to-day and he will meet with a burst of laughter from the girl, if he proceeds to propose in the orthodox manner. But, on the other hand, the present-day girl possesses a good deal of common sense and she is capable of wide sympathies and strong loyalties. She realises that one cannot live or be happy on the mere vapourings of love and romance. So, she assesses the benefits or comforts she may derive from marrying a particular youth and if she finds them satisfactory, she will marry him provided she is sure she will not be unhappy with him. A maxim that is a favourite with many girls to-day is that, 'it is better to marry the man who loves you, than to marry the man you love.' In most cases, the wooing is begun at the present time in a worldly-wise and friendly way and neither the garden nor the drawing-room is necessary for the progress of courtship. Keeping company and chatting are in themselves a mild form of wooing and they are done in public without offending public decency. No holding of hand under a chestnut tree or kneeling down on the wet grass is required for the declaration of one's love for the girl of his choice. The question containing the meaning 'Will you marry me' may pleasantly and without embarrassment be asked, and the reply meaning 'I will' as pleasantly and without any agitation be given. The old outlook on the questions of courtship and marriage has radically changed in the West and marriage is not as great a sentimental affair as it was until recently. It is, however, far from true to argue that love and romance have lost their fascination for the human heart and that marriage has become a mere safety-valve for the comforts of family life and for the satisfaction of the animal impulses in man. In spite of what has been said above, there are many more marriages in the West that are brought about by love and romance than anywhere else in the world. It is absurd to contend that marriage is a failure in the West. It has never been a failure and will be much less so in the future with increasing safeguards and remedies. A hundred, a thousand, and even a hundred thousand divorces, are not any index to the success or failure of marriage in the West as an institution, and the lack of a most humane remedy for the misery of an unhappy married life (i.e., divorce) does not show us the real state of marital relations in any community. It is high time we removed the beam in our eye before we pointed at the mote in our neighbour's. Love and romance may have discarded their old garb but they have put on a new and more durable one.

When the couple agree to marry, they get engaged and the fact is demonstrated by the wearing by the girl on the finger next after the little finger of her left hand, of a ring with a stone, bought for the purpose by the prospective bridegroom. The parents' consent is sought, and in some cases, even before the couple are actually engaged. If the consent is forthcoming, it is well and good. Even if it is not, there will not, in most cases, be any change in the status quo. In the higher classes or among the rich people, a day is fixed for announcing the engagement and it is announced amidst a group of relatives and friends who come over for the occasion. There is, of course, a dinner and a dance then.

A day is fixed by consent for the marriage. There is no lagnam in the Western system and one day is as good as another for the Westerners. Marriage should, however, take place between 8 or 9 A.M. and 3 P.M. After three in the afternoon, no marriage can be performed. In the West, people can get married in a Registry Office under the authority of the Civic Marriage Act. The bride and bridegroom simply go to the Marriage Registry Office accompanied by two or more witnesses. The Registrar takes down particulars about them and asks them whether they wish to become man and wife. When the couple say 'yes,' the marriage is made. The witnesses are there for the purpose of identifying the couple and bearing testimony to the marriage. The Registrar gives the newly-married couple a marriage certificate and the civil marriage is completed. Generally speaking, civil marriage is not very much in vogue in England, though poor people and those who are divorced find it very useful and convenient.

The marriage celebration in the West is a very short one, when compared with ours. It lasts only for a few hours, whereas our celebrations last from 1½ to 5 days. Excepting very close friends and relatives, nobody goes to the bride's and bridegroom's house to stay for marriage. Two weeks before marriage takes place, bans are published in the church of the place where either the bride or bridegroom lives, or has resided for some time prior to the marriage, or where the marriage ceremony takes place. A license also is taken to perform the, marriage. A system of licensing even religious marriages has been in force in the Western countries and so there is there a uniformity of marriages. Either on the previous evening or on the morning of the marriage, the bridegroom will have come to the place where the marriage is to take place. But he does not stay in the same house as the bride. The bridegroom goes to the church accompanied by his best man, relatives and friends. He goes there a few minutes before the bride and waits for her arrival. The best man is generally the bridegroom's best friend and he is there to assist his friend at the marriage. He is the custodian of the wedding-ring. When the bride arrives in the company, of her father, brother or some one who is to give her away at the wedding, she is received at the church entrance by the bridegroom who ,then, leads her to the altar accompanied by his best man and the giver-away of the bride. (kanya data). Those who are not already seated in the church follow them. The bride's people sit on the left side of the church and the bridegroom's on the right side of it. The bride stands or kneels on the left side of the bridegroom. Everyone in the church gets up when the pair enters. The marriage service is not very long. Soon we hear the priest asking the bride and the groom whether they will take one another for husband and wife. When the priest puts the question, "so and so, wilt thou take this woman or man (as the case may be) so and so (here the name is given) for your lawful wife or husband, etc.," everyone looks up with interest and awaits with eagerness the reply 'I will' from either of the pair. The vow 'will' taken by the bridal pair before the altar in the presence of the priest and of a gathering, has as much religious significance in the West as the pramanam before the Fire among the Hindus. It is a common notion that either of the couple will not say 'I will' heartily, cheerfully or boldly, if he or she does not like the other party to the marriage, and that the bride who does not like the bridegroom, will generally say it with tears in her eyes. So the answer 'will' is , considered to be an index of the feelings of the bride or bridegroom. After the question and answer, the wedding-ring is handed over to the bridegroom by the best man, and the bridegroom puts it on the left finger of his bride. When the wedding-ring, which takes in the West the place of our Mangalasutram, is put on, the vow of chastity is sealed by the couple with a kiss. Soon after, the priest gives the benediction and the marriage register is signed by the newly married couple and their parents and a few elderly relatives and friends. When the bride and bridegroom come out of the church ,after the ceremony, they are greeted with a shower of confetti and a burst of enthusiasm and delight. The wedding party will then drive to the place where the wedding breakfast is arranged by the bride's parents.

The wedding breakfast is quite a delightful affair. Many rich and delicious dishes are served and there is a goodly supply of liquor. But the chief characteristic of the wedding breakfast is the wedding cake. The bride cuts the cake with the knife handed over by the bridegroom and the cake is distributed to the guests. It is also sent to the friends and relatives who have not attended the wedding or come to the breakfast. During the breakfast, the health and happiness of the bridal pair are drunk to and there are toasts also to the health of the bride's and bridegroom's parents. The toasts are accompanied by complimentary and graceful little speeches which express the hope and the good wishes of the guests gathered there, for the happiness of the bridal couple. When the breakfast is over, the couple get ready to start on their honeymoon. Everyone is anxious to have a last look at them and wish them all the happiness in the world. The honeymoon car moves and behold there is a rain of confetti and shouts of laughter and joy rend the air. The inevitable old boot and the lucky horse-shoe hang swingingly at the back of the car, This old boot and horse-shoe affair is a worn out, age-long secret, yet, the couple is pleasantly surprised if, by chance, it happens to see them when it is just a few yards away from the starting place.

If the couple can afford it, they choose to spend the honeymoon in a foreign country. The poor spend their honeymoon somewhere in the country and if they cannot do even that, in their own homes. The honeymoon is supposed to be an exceedingly delightful and happy affair and it is so in the case of the bride and the groom who really love one another. Otherwise there will be no honey in the moon. And it may occasionally turn out to be a green moon which is worse than a blue moon. But on the whole, the institution is very beneficial and works well. The honeymoon is the time for understanding and sympathising with the spouse, and we all know that without understanding and sympathy even the best of marriages go to pieces. Moreover when you are newly married, you want to be away on your own with your beloved. When you are first probing into the depths of love and are enjoying for the first time, the fruits of youth, you would like to be left to yourselves and would intensely dislike anybody to, be anywhere near you, to pry into your intimacies and love differences. You want to belong to your beloved, body and soul, and you crave to be absorbed in her love. And it is more than impossible to do so, when you are in a crowd of people who have friendly or family claims on your company and take you away from your beloved and divert your attention from her. If you and your bride are happy in the first days of your married life, then, there is greater chance of your marriage becoming a success. This is the primary reason why a married son would like to live his own life apart from his father's home. I think the honeymoon is a very beneficial institution which we will do well to start in India.

¹It is becoming increasingly difficult to get proper domestic servants. The boys and girls, the young men and young women who used to flock to houses for employment, have almost suddenly taken a dislike to domestic employment since the War. The late War has brought about great changes not only in political and economic spheres but in men's minds also. Since the war, there has been a widespread social awakening in the West among the working classes and they do not like to be mere menials. Political radicalism and socialism have enhanced and strengthened the' I am as good as you are' feeling. Besides, there has been a great increase in the wants and desires of men and women. Working men and women now want more freedom, more money and less work, to enjoy the comforts of life. , Consequently, there has arisen a domestic servants' problem in most of i. the countries of Europe and America. In the U.S.A. I am told that it is a luxury to have a white servant. Any white man with any brains in that country starts on his own to make money. He does not find any reason to work for others.