Dirty Feet

Sunaina’s mother-in-law shouted “It’s 8 am. When will you get up? I am tired of doing all housework. Your mother didn’t teach you anything. When I was a new bahu, I did all the housework and cooking. But you don’t even know how to chop garlic."

This had become a regular routine at Sunaina's house since she got married. It had been almost 6 months since her marriage. Her mother-in-law would blame her for anything and everything that went wrong even if it was not related to her actions. One day Sunaina's husband Aditya lost his calm and told his mother to stop blaming Sunaina for everything. She was trying her best to be a good bahu. The mother-in-law got furious at Aditya and slapped Sunaina for trying to steal her son. After abusing Sunaina more, she once again raised her hand to slap her. But this time Sunaina held her hand and stopped her. Both Aditya and his mother were shocked as Sunaina had never uttered a single word till now. Sunaina smiled and hugged her mother-in-law. She then said "Thank you for letting me know my flaws. I will try to become a better person. Just because I don't respond to your insults doesn't mean I can't. I choose to behave this way as I will not allow you to walk into my mind with dirty feet. You are not happy and that's the reason for all this negativity and frustration. You may say what you please, I won't react. But the next time you try to raise your hand on me, I will file an official complaint of harassment."

After that day, the mother-in-law started minding her own business. Gradually, Sunaina developed a good relationship with her mother-in-law. She could have fought like most people do but she chose not to allow the negativity of her mother-in-law disturb her own mental peace. Not reacting aggressively doesn't mean you are not strong. Rather real strength lies in silence than in sound.

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