Traditional pandora's box

As I tore open the metropolitan wrapping sheets package with great excitement I'm surprised to witness some baseless customs and traditions. I would rather take each gift as it pops up from my magical juke box that I got as a gift.

A notion that I got to know was ridiculous. There are many parties and clauses to pay respect. There are few set rules that are prevalent in most of the north-Indian families. I'm now a north-Indian but I cannot accept all the crap given to me at any point of time. There were many such verdicts for which I've never got satisfactory explanations; but I can give innumerous logics for not following it blindly.

Here is some food for thought:

• Girls do not touch her parent's feet: I'm a Maharashtrian by birth and I'm proud to be. I've imbibed the culture to its roots. For me, any one who is elder to me even by a single hour commends respect. There is no one in this entire universe whom I can treat at par with my parents. So how can I not touch the feet of my parents for their blessings. I exist because of them and I'm successful because of them. They are the BEST! I shun this ritual of not touching their feet. If there are innumerous people in a gathering, I would start with them to honor them. I follow this with all my strength and zeal. I got this from Lord Ganesha. Parents are the supreme, they are everything.
• Daughter-in-laws need to touch the younger sister-in-law's feet: Another pop up from the Pandora's box!! I see no logic in it. By imposing this, people are rather stripping off the love, care and affection we might have towards them. I would like to question, will this mere physical act inculcate the respect in someone's heart? I feel even if there was a miniscule particle of respect in the heart that would also eventually diminish by this silly act. I don't follow this.
• Nobody should touch maternal uncle's feet: For me an elder is an elder irrespective of the relation. I need to seek blessings from each and every elder in the family. After all, maternal uncles and their families (apparently our parents' side) do play a major contribution in the upbringing. Then according to the north-Indian culture, the maternal uncles do have to incur heavy expenditure for rituals like bhaat before the marriage. This is the ceremony where the maternal uncles have to buy clothes and expensive gifts for the entire family. What a forced wealth drain...and then a punch line to refer Kans (Lord Krishna's maternal uncle) and Shakuni (evil maternal uncle of Kauravas in Mahabharata) as the creed of maternal uncles where they do not call for any respect but yes they are still eligible to contribute to the child's gift basket during marriage! What an irony?  
• Son-in-law is a highly distinguished member of the family: Why, why and just why? I just can't stop questioning? What exceptional things do the north-Indian son-in-laws do that son-in-laws of other communities do not do? Logically, all have that same extra 7-inch flesh that gives the girls a privilege to be the mothers!! All have the moral obligation to bear the expenditure for a decent livelihood of the girl for the rest of her life after marriage. All do love the girl with all their heart if they truly feel blessed in the relationship. Then why do the girls' side have to worship the son-in-laws in an unrealistic way and give undue leverage and honor to be a part of their family? Are we not over-emphasizing their presence and acknowledging their duties as some unexpected favors? Why?
• Younger brother-in-laws need not be called by their names: The stupid logic that I got for this was: "If you can call a rickshaw puller, a shop-keeper, a pantry boy, an office boy, any male stranger as bhaiya then why not a younger brother-in law?". Can any one of you buy this logic? I will not feel ashamed to call everyone a stupid and an idiot who sees logic in this. For me my younger brother-in-laws are not the strangers, I know them from the bottom of my heart, I relate to them for every naughty prank they play on me, I enjoy teasing them and above all I see no difference in their relation with me as compared to my own younger brothers/cousins. Then why do I move away from them by creating this societal barrier. Even if I call them by their names, I love them, I care for them, and I do respect their presence in my life. They are important to me as they keep the child in me alive! They contribute to my happiness.

All these notions to me are presumably the most weirdest thoughts that any one can give. Why to follow them blindly? There is no point in saying that we are doing this because our parents did this and we follow them blindly.

I ask all the readers, if you are being questioned by your children in future, would you be able to give a sensible logic to this? These are probably the questions that come to my mind. With the traditional evolution, I'm sure our children would move a step ahead of us and ask more intricate questions which you'll have to answer with all the logic and facts. Be prepared as that would be the change over phase for you too for they might ask you a very straight forward question - "What you've been doing all these years with your near and dear culture and tradition?".

I'm gearing up with all my strength to face this! Are you ready too??