India, Oct. 18 -- The most valuable advice I have received about marriage came from a sensible cousin, a few days ahead of my wedding: Treat your spouse's family as if they were your own.

It sounds simple, but a) it isn't, and b) few people do it. Perhaps most vitally, it makes a world of difference, not just to interactions between a person and their in-laws, but to trust between the couple, to stress within the home, and to the ability to build a caring and supportive environment when the inevitable hard days fall upon us.

I have benefited from my cousin's advice for 16 years, and my husband Siddharth Mangharam has benefited from it too.

Our child has grown up seeing that it is possible to hold on to a sense of self and yet be part o...