New Delhi, June 29 -- an unfounded accusation, illogical and jarring. Jamini* (name changed on request) vividly recalls the day her 87-year-old father claimed she had concealed her college-going son's marriage from him. Her reaction-sharp and unrestrained-left her deeply regretful. The ensuing conversation was unsettling for both. "I remember being aghast and upset at what he had said," she reflects. "But what remains etched in my mind is my father's diminutive frame, sitting in his room, hunched over and wiping his tears after I had yelled at him." She embraced him, seeking reconciliation, believing it to be a fleeting episode.

Similarly, Kumar* (name changed on request) was taken aback when his octogenarian mother accused him of hiding...