Vegetables in your family

I was having food with both my children, when I recollected this anology from childhood. I am sure it was my father who told it to us then.

It is said there are vegetables in your family.

Vegetables in the Family

A son is a cucumber.
He can be and will be useful in many ways.
Cucumber can be eaten raw, made into a chutney with some salt and pepper even without cooking. It can be also made into salad, curry, sambar, pickle and many more things. It is for the father to make proper use of the son. After all it is the father who trains him.

The daughter is a Brinjal.
It can not be eaten raw.
You have to make a little effort to make it eatable.
A little bit of spices and it becomes so tatsty that you will forget all the other vegetables. It can be added to any other vegetable and cooked too. Many dishes can be made with it.
Father or the mother has to keep the daughter in good humor. Then she will be better than even the son.
The daughter is as good as you are. If you are cold. She will be cold too.

The daughter -in-law is a bitter gourd.
Whatever you do to enhace it's taste, the bitterness still remains.
Not that it is not tasty. It is! But, a lot of effort is needed to make it tasty.
You have to like it along with the bitterness.

Do I have to add that this is all old thinking. This also essentially Indian thinking. But, pray tell me has the story changed?