The first interview of Twisha Sharma’s mother-in-law Giribala Singh, who is a retired judge, was one that evoked feelings of sympathy. As she broke into tears and said, “bahu toh beti se badhke hoti hai, wo apka parivaar aage badhaati hai,” it felt like a momentary warmth, the possibility of an evolved saas-bahu relationship, one rooted in affection rather than hierarchy… But then she started to unleash a narrative far too familiar. Slowly, the conversation shifted from grief and mourning and what started emerging were statements painfully familiar to countless daughters-in-law across Indian households. ‘She didn’t want children,’ ‘she didn’t pray,’ ‘she didn’t water the plants,’ ‘she wouldn’t pick up her plate,’ ‘she didn’t supervise the cook.’ Ordinarily, such complaints remain confined to drawing rooms, family WhatsApp groups, or private gossip between relatives but here they were being aired on national media about a woman who is no longer alive to speak for herself. And this makes it deeply unsettling.
