Lakshmi

Lakshmi, 51, came into a large joint family, brought from a small town to the big city. All the promises that her in laws made to her parents were never fulfilled. They told her that they would treat her like a daughter and made sure she studied further. But instead, she was treated like one of the house helps, with no respect and ill treated to such an extent that she wasn't allowed to sleep on the same bed as her husband. Education, she says, was out of the question. They took away all the money and resources that her parents had given her and she couldn't go back to her parents due to the shame she thought it would bring them. 3 years later, her baby daughter was her only respite. But this time she made up her mind that she would not leave her daughter to the same fate. At 25, she left her in laws and her husband and took up a low level job at a bank. 26 years later, she can't believe she had the courage to do so. Today her daughter is a practicing CA in the United States and her mother Lakshmi is a strong, independent woman.