It's quite interesting sometimes to see the way Indian society has evolved over the years. The family relationships have not changed much but the way the rules are enforced on a daughter-in-law has changed. It does not matter how self-sufficient or independent a woman is, the invisible tentacles of the society grabs her by the neck and chokes her to an extent that she finally yields for the sake of the family or sometimes for her own peace of mind.
Often times, even a progressive husband is influenced by the ideas of senior family members (who are not as well informed as they tend to believe) and wants to follow the conventional route established by the society. A daughter-in-law who questions this system becomes a culprit and the family starts acting like a correctional institute to fix this unruly woman who questioned their authority and started thinking outside the box.
The most saddening part is- it often happens in most educated (and so called) 'cultured' middle-class households, which takes pride in it's new financial growth yet threatened by the same growth that has given independence to women. I still do not understand how flipping rotis like a master chef, doing pooja every morning before sunrise and listening silently to utterly stupid advice makes a woman a 'cultured' person. For heaven's sake, these women have lived alone in an entirely new city and made their way through it. Please do not insult her intelligence with your half baked ideas on how a cultured woman should behave.
If you want to truly behave like a 'cultured' person, help a person in need, raise your voice against the social evils and work towards improving the local community. Hosting a party and bragging about one's own achievements is not 'cultured' in any way.
