'Husband-proof' shopping list goes viral

An Indian woman left little to chance by creating an illustrated 'dummy-proof' shopping list to aid her husband for their weekly food shop - and it struck a chord with thousands of social media users on LinkedIn and Twitter.

29-year-old IT specialist Era Golwalkar told BBC Trending that the list was created to "solve a weekly problem."

"After Gaurav and I got married three years ago we decided to split the household chores," she says, "Gaurav was very supportive and was ready to learn cooking (which is not common for a lot of men in India). But there was one problem. I wasn't aware of back then - he had no experience with anything related to cooking."

"When I first sent him to purchase vegetables, it was an epic fail and an argument ensued between us. The second time was no better. Nor was the third."

Era says vegetable vendors soon picked up on her husband's naivety and began selling him substandard and spoiled products. The confusion led to the task becoming increasingly cumbersome when it was her husband's turn to visit the supermarket.

"He would keep sending photos on Whatsapp to get my approval. So I had to get to the bottom of the problem," she says.

Era and Gaurav would have "epic arguments" over the spoiled fruit and vegetables he would purchase.

Era did so by writing a meticulous list with detailed drawings of each item, so as to eliminate any potential confusion. She even explained how to pick the right veggies - by illustrating what she meant by a medium-sized potato and told him not to opt for palak (spinach) with holes in.

It worked. Gaurav returned with the right shopping and the arguments stopped. So Era decided to share her list on social media.

"Looking at the reactions on social media. I've noticed that most married women globally are able to relate to this," Era says. "Even kids can relate to when their mothers tell them to go and get something from the market and gives similar instructions."

She adds that men on social media generally "had a good laugh over the list, although a few found it to be a bit condescending." But she is keen to point out that she knows that not all men would need a "husband-proof" list like this.

"But mine did, so we found a solution," she says.

But what does Era's husband, 31-year-old Guarav, a video lecturing executive at BuyTestSeries in the west Indian city of Pune, think about the list?

"It did reduce our arguments is what I can definitely say," he tells BBC Trending. "Now, if I get something wrong, I have proof that it wasn't in the specification and she can't deny it."

"Earlier, I used to lose all arguments hands down where veggie/fruit shopping was concerned, now I can put up a fight."

You can follow BBC Trending on Twitter @BBCtrending, and find us on Facebook. All our stories are at bbc.com/trending.