Men are in no way better in this aspect. It is true that nowadays men are helping women in household works, but they claim it as something extraordinary on their part, they claim that they are doing something out of the way for their wife, etc. etc. Women do not relish this attitude of men. The wife is expected to cook for the family, work in the office during daytime, take care of the needs of the children and the elders after returning from work, accompany her husband to parties during weekends, nurse her mother-in-law if she falls ill and so on … this is what every man expects from his wife, and if the man helps his wife 20%, he expects 100% service from his wife in return, women argue and complain.

All the mothers expect their son-in-law to treat their daughter as a princess. But the mother-in-law expects her daughter-in-law to look after the family as a responsible housewife. The mother complains that the mother-in-law always tries to control the daughter-in-law. But problems do not arise only between the in-laws, problems do arise between the parents and children themselves which means that the problem is between the present and old generation only. Till the last generation, problems in marriage were accepted by both the man and his wife as part of the institution and divorces were very rare. But today, problems connected with marriage are brought to open in courts and media.

Parents wish that whether men or women, they should participate in Sivasakthi program. Many parents who attended the program felt that it was very much required for today’s men and women. They were all worried that today’s generation didn’t have the essential qualities like flexibility, understanding and patience. To protect marriage, programs like Sivasakthi were a must, they felt. Similar to training in sports, music and other things, training for good marriage was also necessary, the elders strongly felt.

But, we’ve some comforting news also. People have the interest in learning good things. Elders accept them without ego but the younger ones hesitate to accept anything without questioning. If the younger generation is also prepared for a good change, we can become models for outsiders. ‘Prevention is better than cure’ should be our motto and this policy should be applied to marriage also. Where there’s a will, there’s a way!