Check out 16 Return-To-Work Programs In India For Ambitious Women Like You!
My father-in-law always told me, 'You should embarrass them with your goodness.' But can shameless people ever feel ashamed?
My father-in-law always told me, ‘You should embarrass them with your goodness.’ But can shameless people ever feel ashamed?
This post was originally published on the Women’s Web Hindi channel and was translated into English by Mrigya Rai
I was married in a family where no one had any connection to studies. My jeth and jethani (elder brother-in-law and his wife) were jealous of me since I was educated and worked.
They kept insisting that I stop working, which caused a lot of rifts in our relationship. Noticing the tense atmosphere at our house, my in-laws separated us. My jeth-jethani started living upstairs with their two children and my husband and I started living downstairs with my in-laws.
It wasn’t that I never tried to establish a relationship with them but their ego was so large that everything went in vain. At my father-in-law’s request, I had to bow down before my jeth-jethani, multiple times. He always told me, ‘You should embarrass them with your goodness.’ But can shameless people ever feel ashamed?
One day, out of nowhere, my health deteriorated. It turned out that there was a stone in my gallbladder and could only be treated through an operation. I had to have surgery in a hurry. And on the second day of the surgery, I was discharged and we came home.
Even after I came back home, my jeth-jethani, didn’t bother asking about my condition. Seeing my walk with a limp due to the pain, I saw a glint of pleasure in my jethani’s eyes. She couldn’t hide her smile. I felt bad but my mother-in-law and husband consoled me.
Very soon, my jethani too started feeling unwell and had a stomach-ache. After the investigations, we found out that she too had stones. She had a lot of pain which was unbearable and wouldn’t stop no matter what. We checked with the doctor once again who prescribed medication and she was brought down to rest in the same room as me.
Now, with both my jethani and I on bed-rest, all the workload fell on our mother-in-law. When I saw that she was unable to do all the work, I mustered up some strength and got up to help her. Anyway, the doctor had told me that I could walk around a little.
So I got up and made tea and breakfast for my jeth-jethani and their two children. When I saw their faces and their behaviour, I realised that some people never feel shame, no matter what. They had absolutely no feeling of discomfort or remorse on their faces.
There was no shame that they seemed to feel at my mother-in-law and me working.
After recovering, my jethani went back to her place, never looking back or even acknowledging what my mother-in-law did for her.
Have you ever encountered such a relative? Did you also keep quiet as I did? Or did you speak up? Do let me know in the comments.
Picture credits: Still from Marathi TV series Agga Bai Sasubai
read more...
Women's Web is an open platform that publishes a diversity of views, individual posts do not necessarily represent the platform's views and opinions at all times.
Stay updated with our Weekly Newsletter or Daily Summary - or both!
People say that women are the greatest enemies of women. I vehemently disagree. It is the patriarchal mindset that makes women believe in the wrong ideology.
The entire world celebrates International Women’s Day on March 8, 2024. It should be a joyful day, but unfortunately, not all women are entitled to this privilege, as violence against women is at its peak. The experience of oppression pushes many women to choose freedom. As far as patriotism is concerned, feminism is not a cup of tea in this society.
What happens when a woman decides to stand up for herself? Does this world easily accept the decisions of women in this society? What inspires them to be free of the clutches of the oppression that women have faced for ages? Most of the time, women do not get the chance to decide for themselves. Their lives are always at the mercy of someone, which can be their parents, siblings, husband, or children.
In some cases, women do not feel the need to make any decisions. They are taught to obey the patriarchal system, which makes them believe that they are right. In my family, I was never taught to make decisions on my own. It was always my parents who bought dresses and all that I needed.
It is shameful that in today's world too, women are abused and even killed for giving birth to a girl, and the infant's life is also of no value.
Trigger Warning: This deals with domestic violence, suicide, and violence against women, and may be triggering to survivors.
I am so glad that the esteemed courts are now giving the much-required verdicts regarding certain ideologies that were not at all entertained earlier. I mean we all have studied this much biology at our school level and it is our duty (our generation) to educate our elders about it.
Why someone have to lose a life to bring such awareness to the society. Delhi High Court gave this judgement concerning a case that filed by the deceased daughter’s parents against her in-laws. She committed suicide as she was harassed and tortured for dowry and giving birth to two daughters.
Please enter your email address