Page 14 - HIRS - Eng
P. 14

xii                         How I AcHIeved ReAl SucceSS

          my life choices. Among all the cousins, I was considered to be
          the most intelligent, and yet why had I chosen not to work?
          Why did I have such a courteous attitude towards my husband
          — to the extent that I did not even address him by his first
          name? Why had we decided to live in a small community and
          educate our children in the local school? She even complained
          about me being too careful about my children’s diet, based
          on the fact that I had requested her to bring fresh fruits
          (and not frozen or imported ones) when she was going to the
          supermarket.

          What surprised me was not that she should question my choices
          (which is something I face often), but that she was so angry
          about them. She was absolutely livid! And yet, there was no
          indication that either my children or I were unhappy in any
          way, so I wondered what she was so upset about.

          Perhaps she considered the fact that I was following a more
          traditional lifestyle was evidence enough that I must be
          horribly repressed by my husband, and being a close relative
          felt indignant on my behalf.

          Or, perhaps, I was witnessing a defensive reaction — the
          frustrated fury of a working woman struggling to bring up
          three little girls.

          Perhaps it was a bit of both. But her reaction made me realize
          how disconnected my generation is from the principles of
          traditional culture. She was so convinced that there could
          be no rational explanation for my way of life that she didn’t
          even bother to hear my side of the story before delivering
          her verdict that it would have a long-term damaging effect
          on me and my children.
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