1. Saas-bahu soaps

All the women go to bed completely decked out in embroidered saris and wake up without a single hair out of place.

The evil ones inevitably wear coloured contact lenses and heavy makeup, while the good ones are so meek, so downtrodden, so sacrificing that you want to pull your own hair out at their goody-two-shoes antics.

They worship their no-good, drunkard husbands and bullying in-laws and pray before the family idol each day, bathing it in their pure tears as they beseech the Almighty (who may want to keep a bucket handy, considering the diabetic tripe He's forced to hear) to bring about a change in their lives.

No matter how out of sync they are with reality or how offensive they are to modern, independent women with a shred of self-respect, we will continue to watch and enjoy saas-bahu soaps forever.

And so will those dominating wives who don't hesitate to club their hubbies over the head with a frying pan every now and again -- even they're rooting for the hapless bahus and clucking in sympathy while quiet moans emanate from a corner where someone's bid to watch cricket was once again vetoed with a vessel.