When you get married, you just don't get married to your spouse, you get married into his or her family. And unless you embrace your marital family as your own, your marriage is not complete.
No family is perfect, so neither is yours nor your spouse's. It's natural to see your maternal family in the brighter light, but it's not right to demean your marital one. Women often complain that they are looked upon as an outsider by their in-laws. But the question is if they had even tried to become an insider! Most women around me say, "I can never see my mother-in-law as I see my own mother!" And then they complain that they are not treated like a daughter by their mothers-in-law. The truth is that you will feel like an outsider till you want to feel like an outsider.
The equations in a family doesn't remain the same forever. When new ingredients are added by virtue of marriages and birth, or subtracted by virtue of death or circumstances, flavours of a family change. The proportions of sweetness, saltiness, sourness or spiciness goes up and down along the line. That's life. The only thing that we need to take care of is that the flavour shouldn't turn bitter. You might not like everyone in the family and everybody may not like you. You cannot please everyone and everyone may not be pleasing to you. The only thing you can do is play your part. As Ma rightly says, "Don't fret about what they think of you or what they do for or against you, you just keep doing your own part. Rest God will take care of".
Since I got married, life's been a roller-coaster, especially in terms of emotions and situations. Having to stay in a joint family, with each person having an individual set of issues isn't easy. Each day brings its own menu. A cocktail of sweet, salt and sour. A mock-tail of drama, action, romance, tragedy and comedy. Each day in varying proportions. But having a supportive and understanding spouse, who is on the same page as you ninety-eight percent of the times, has been my greatest blessing. A lot have changed since I had introduced the family to my readers. Our Delhi hostel-home has been almost reduced to nuclear families. With the addition of new ingredients and dynamic situations, the flavour graph have changed shape several times and intra-equations have been modified. But clear communications and frank conversations, and mostly a clear head, kept saving the days.
What I have understood over the years is that when it comes to sub-relationships within an ever-expanding family, it is very important to rationalize with a clear head. It is very, very easy to get caught in a web of words and insecurities, and to get carried away by a whirlwind of emotions. Only undiluted communication, trust, love and empathy can keep growing families intact. While complaining about what the others don't do for us, we should think about what we don't do for them. And instead of holding grudges, we just need to remember the times when the other has been there for us.
Whether it is your maternal family or your marital one, it is not about individuals, it is about team work where individual roles sum up. So open up, give your new family a chance, invest in them and play your part with love. Give yourself a chance in your new role. And trust me, lifelong affection and warmth will be guaranteed.
Happy Valentine's Day.
Happy Valentine's Day.