Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, But Alas! Nothing Much Learnt!

As long as mothers in law fall back on traditional Saasu maa behaviour, the Bahu Ranis will not have any respite from the tug of war!

As history repeats itself, so does the newly elected Saasu Maa. She has seen tough times, raised a big family, but not learnt much, because playing the second mom to the newly wed daughter in law, is no match to the sadistic pleasure she derives from nagging her Bahu Rani!

She begins with, “hamare zamane me Toh…”, and so the never-ending saga continues. If the Bahu Rani is aaj ke zamane ki, then prompt comes the reply, but if she happens to be the naive kind, she will have a lifetime of sermons to be followed.

If she happens to be a good cook, then the mother in law sees her as a serious competitor, and every recipe of the former needs to be improved and the latter leaves no stone unturned in rectifying it.

Sonny boy makes most of it, while the Sun shines – after all he is mama’s son-shine. The competition for the better half becomes tough, as there are constant comparisons with Maa Ke haath ka khana.

This is just the beginning, as there lies a tough battle ahead. No matter how many degrees you hold, you ought to be a master in house-hold chores. Ladies please hold on, what if someone is like me, I mean ‘jack of all trades and master of none’…!

Why own daughters and others daughters in law are better? Well, may be ‘the grass is greener on the other side’ is the case.

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Mama’s boy may graduate to a hen pecked husband … with (false) hopes the newly wed Bahu Rani looks forward to greener pastures, but soon the reality bites! No amount of education or human resourceful skills come to the rescue.

Maa Ke doodh ka karaz is inversely proportional to mama’s boy changing diapers of his own kids.

It is all win-win situation for one party or complete surrender. Two sides of the coin never meet and heads I win and tails you lose, becomes the mantra of the relationship.

The tug of war continues…

Forgetting that she married the son of another mother, the newly formed Saasu maa forgets her history and so the history repeats itself, but she is the the one with silver greys  – and mind you, these are not dried in the sun.

Life comes a full circle for her, when her dear Bahu Rani’s mother gets her Bahu Rani. How happy our Saasu maa is to draw comparisons between two drastically opposite things. I mean, how can one Bahu Rani be similar to another, (sarcasm alert!), but Saasu maa defies this law of nature by proving that every Bahu is same. So behave like so and so’s Bahu and I’m the Saas, so I too will be no different, no matter what, even if Saas bhi kabhi Bahu thi.

I hope you get , what I thought and tried to convey, well most of you would if you happen to be a Bahu Rani…

The never-ending saga continues …

This is just the introductory note, the story is yet to unfold, as it happens … keep reading …

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