A seemingly ordinary quarrel over household spending spiralled into a prolonged standoff between a couple in the Subhanpura area of Vadodara. The situation descended to such an extent that the 38-year-old husband refused to eat anything cooked by his wife for three long years.
The Trigger
The couple married 12 years ago and have a daughter. Everything was normal between them until a few years ago when the woman started asking her husband for more money. The man, who works for a private firm, would give her money to cover household expenses, but she wanted more to fund her leisure activities and certain luxuries.
Escalation
According to Chandrakant Makwana from the Abhayam helpline, the husband told his wife he could not afford to spend much due to his limited income, but she kept pushing him to increase their monthly budget. The 35-year-old woman told her husband that if he could not afford her expenses, she would start working. He did not object, and the wife began working, but her expenses only increased.
She would taunt him constantly about his income during meals at home. He told her that he also 'adjusts' and quietly 'eats what she cooks even if it is tasteless'.
The Standoff
Fed up with the barbs, the husband made a quiet decision that he would no longer eat the meals cooked by his wife. Initially, she felt his anger would fade in a few weeks and he would resume having food at home. However, he did not budge for three long years and kept eating outside. The situation became so distressing that their daughter also stopped interacting with her mother.
Intervention
Disturbed by her husband pushing away the food every time, the woman called Abhayam counsellors for help. The counsellors advised the wife to limit her expenses and asked the husband to save more money to occasionally meet his wife's demands. The counselling helped the couple begin to rebuild their relationship.
