Originally posted by bong.girl
Manju, I got to disagree with you here, my friend. You have no idea which century we Indians are living in. The practice of untouchablity is still very much alive and practised not only in rural India but also in urban cities of India. It is rather a sad and ugly truth. The caste-ism is very much prevalent here.
Characters like Dadi are found almost everywhere. They are snotty and irrational to say the least. They are also found in the guise of MILs. They have no compunction is giving their DILs a piece of their minds even if they are from the same caste and community. Heaven forbid if their precious son marries a girl who is belonging to a lower caste which is always against the family's wishes then all hell breaks loose.
When it comes to marriage in India, one must marry within the community and someone from the same caste. So caste and community play a big role here in marriages. Inter caste marriages or even inter community marriages are almost unthinkable. Only a small percentage of the Indian population has liberating, modern views. And even smaller percentage is actually gutsy enough to do something revolutionary because sadly most in spite of good education and modern outlook towards life bow down to the orthodox and traditional views of their family. Most men in India are spineless. They are still Mama's boys and are not "man" enough to stand up against the opposition.
But I definitely agree about the maids ruling over the house part. It is 100% true. The household is in utter chaos if they don't turn up for work. They have their own demands and work according to their own whims. One must bow down to their wishes, if you want them to work for you.
Onu darling, believe me, I have seen and experienced the worst in Indian society, (I dont want to wash my dirty linen in public), but I dont let that coIour my outlook. So darling dont be too harsh on Indian men, they are changing for the better! Centuries of tradition cannot be totally wiped out in the blink of an eye. And discrimination against women was not confined to India, it was rampant the world over.
I can say I am very lucky to have been born in such a forward thinking accommodating family with such a progressive outlook. My own brother has married outside the community and language! Several of my cousins both male and female have married people from different communities, languages and my uncle married a girl from a different religion (both were students at IIT Mumbai)about 30 years ago! But I accept there are all kinds of people. Ultimately it depends on the individual and inappropriate behaviour cannot be justified.
I wish the serials did not keep clinging on to such outdated and frankly irrational ideas in the name of entertainment!
They did not need to bring in a malevolent dadi to bring out the lover in ASR, but they did...
