An illiterate but otherwise a perfect mother-in-law in an old traditional Indian joint family needs some exemplary qualities to efficiently execute her role. One, a big family implies a lot of work. The old lady can’t get away just ordering around; she needs a ground-level pulse of the household to keep the operations running smoothly. Two, a big family has all kinds of characters; without the leader’s diplomacy in playing the normalizing conduit between different members, there will be no unity in the family. Three, a big family means different kinds of responsibilities as well; a fair division of duties between all the daughters-in-law and herself will require her collaborative skills. And four, with so much happening around, the last thing the mother-in-law can afford is to keep losing her composure. Therefore—grounded, diplomatic, collaborative, calm—all four are key qualities that a perfect mother-in-law needs to have in abundant proportion. And interestingly, none of them are a part of any college curriculum!