Desdemona
I got caught up while writing the update yesterday and came up w/ my impression of Poonam based on the show. However, your observations are brilliant, and what Poonam did is something that no girl would do, unless she's a total wacko. Poonam was in some ways almost a female edition of Brij, as far as the audacity department goes. đ¤˘
First of all, her's is an arranged marriage - she hardly knows Sandeep: she's just smitten by him and agreed to marry him as a result. But having done that, as a new bride in that house, she is bound to be inhibited and shy, and no matter how much Jyoti cajoles her into demanding what she wants, she isn't going to be that brazen. If Deepu was marrying a girl-friend who already knew the Sharmas very well, that might be expected, but even then, it's unlikely. And here, you have a brand new girl walking in and acting like she owns the place.
Like you said, she hardly knows them, so she isn't going to just cooly ask them for their room. And even if she has a gazillion things @ home, she'd probably pick a few select items that she absolutely needs and bring them, and only later slowly bring more things from her maayka that she determines that she needs. Here, she's all ready to move all her possessions in her maayka to her sasural.
The next thing - such a bride would be very inhibited in front of her FIL and Dadi-in-law: the last thing she'd do would be to pick up the newspaper just as he's about to read it. Whichever writer thought that one up is a real wacko. And when she's told where the bathroom is, she isn't going to take the paper w/ her, as Poonam was about to before Dadi snatched it from her.
And like you said, any new sasural would be very particular about the needs of the new bahu, be it hot water, storage space or whatever. Just b'cos they are used to bathing in cold water doesn't mean that they'll automatically assume that all families are okay w/ it. And also, last but not least, the new sasural would obviously ask the bride whether she knows how to cook, and what, before assigning her duties: they won't just throw her in the kitchen unattended if she has no clue. The way Dadi just commands her is like she's the new maid. đł
Hopefully, these were just first day hiccups, and if the Trivedis are sensible enough to explain to Poonam that as a bahu, this is standard for what is expected, she should adjust soon enough. Unless she's a total brat, but she doesn't come off that way.
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