The Monster-In-Law

She is the archetypal, but filmy extreme of a Mother-In-Law (MIL) immortalised by Lalita Pawar and Shashikala on celluloid.

Verbal insults are her weapons and torturing her daughter-in-law seems to be the aim of her life. For any mishap including MIL's family misfortunes, she holds her Bahu responsible.

In extreme cases, she even resorts to physical assault. This specie is almost extinct except perhaps the movies and prime time 'K' soaps.

Strategy to Deal With Her

If you think you can match up with her as a conniving vamp-like daughter-in-law, take charge.

Beware, in this home tug-of-war, the son-husband is often the first casualty. If you find things this extreme, do take a look at yourself. Is your Mom-in-law really this bad or it's just a reaction to your actions?

If there is physical torture, it's time to seek help, because your life could be in danger here.

The Nosy Noose

"Why are you wasting money on a flat-screen TV? Use that money for our family pilgrimage to Tirupati."

"Order a new gas stove - microwave cooking ruins appetites"

"Enough family planning now. We want to see our grandchildren while we're alive."

Sounds familiar?

These and more such 'pearls of wisdom' keep on flooding your household, thanks to this overactive ma-in-law type. She wants to know about every thing her son and daughter-in-law are up to and needs the reins in her hand.

Strategy to Deal with Her

Seema has a good solution. "I didn't want to hurt my ma-in-law as she did everything in good faith. At first, I simply obeyed some of her decisions. Once my husband disagreed with her and they had a big fight - I seized the opportunity and actually sided with my ma-in-law! I explained to my husband why she wanted things to happen in a certain way and he thawed. My stance immediately won her over - she realised what she did. Since she lets me make our decisions now, I make it a point to ask her and include her in decision-making, so she wouldn't feel left out and powerless. She has mellowed down and started trusting my judgement," she says.