Winds of change are sweeping an institution billed as the only one of its kind in the world - a finishing school for Hindu brides.
The privately-run Manju Sanskar Centre, in Bhopal, central India, started churning out 'perfect' Hindu wives in 1989.
But now, its syllabus is being overhauled to help prospective brides deal with the grim reality of HIV and domestic violence - topics never before mentioned, let alone discussed.
'We are changing with the times,' says Aildas Hemnani, principal of the residential centre reviled by feminists as an anachronism in modern India. 'Otherwise we will cease to be socially relevant.'
It is legitimate criticism: the school taught women to be submissive, revere their husbands as gods, tolerate bullying in-laws with a smile, and slave away in the kitchen without a hint of resentment.
Over the past 16 years, more than 4,500 women between the ages of 18 and 21 have graduated from the school. All acquired the five 'sterling' qualities of ideal wives - coyness in the eyes, smile on the face, sweetness in speech, love in the heart and hands capable of hard work.