When Shyam had to go to Pune to study, he stayed at his maternal uncle's house. At that time, he was about eleven years old. His uncle was, by nature, a short-tempered man. Shyam had to endure many scoldings and punishments there. He was often beaten for small mistakes, and his mind grew weary of staying there. Two or three times, he even ran away from his uncle’s house. Once, he went to Mumbai. Another time, he came back home. Finally, his uncle, fed up with all this trouble, said, "Enough of this nuisance here," and sent Shyam back home.

When he returned home, his father had just been released from prison. He had been imprisoned during the Swadeshi movement. His health was not good, so he was staying at a relative’s house. Shyam’s elder sister had been married and had come home to her parental house. She had a little daughter, still an infant, who was being breastfed. The sister had come home but soon fell seriously ill. She was struck with a severe attack of typhoid. At home, only Aai was there. She had to manage all the household chores by herself. Shyam...

Payan Akka was unable to give her own child any milk. That milk, tainted by her illness, had become poisonous. Because of it, the little child suffered greatly. At such a time, Shyam returned home from Pune. Mama sent him home instead of letting him stay with him. Who had the leisure to pay attention to him then? On the contrary, all the affection in the house was reserved for Akka. She was wasting away day by day. Her illness kept growing worse. One day, she began to burn with fever. She started rambling incessantly. In her delirium, she spoke of everything that had happened to her since she came into the house. So much money had been spent on her wedding. Akka had been the darling of all. Hearing of her suffering made my mother’s heart ache terribly.

There were many faults among us. Brothers would quarrel among themselves, and in drunkenness, would be sent home. The daughters-in-law and daughters of the house would trouble everyone. Truly, if one were to speak plainly, mothers-in-law and mothers would have to leave the house and go to their own parents. Or, in anger, they would have to leave the family altogether. But such a thing was never seen to happen. On the contrary, when a daughter-in-law entered the house, she became just another member of the household! Mothers-in-law would trouble their daughters-in-law. But when that same daughter-in-law became a mother-in-law herself, she would forget the hardships she had once endured and would trouble her own daughter-in-law in turn. Just as a teacher scolds his students, and when that student grows up to be a teacher, he does the same. Even in simple games, we notice this same pattern. Therefore, both the school and the home must be reformed. Our culture is very deep-rooted. It teaches us