Sibiling Rivalry (பங்காளிச் சண்டை)
It is common among sibilings to fight (சண்டை போடு), both verbally as well as physically. Often parents intervene with some sort of punishment involving both scolding and spanking. Spanking is very common in Tamil culture. In fact, there is a saying அடியாத மாடு படியாது, 'the cow that is not spanked won't be obedient'. Parents in Tamil culture believe that the children should be raised to respect and fear their parents so that they don't develop a habit of disrespecting adults. Respecting one's parents is always expected and it is not uncommon for misbehavior to be physically punished, sometimes to the extreme of hitting them with sticks, kicking them, knocking on their heads with their fists, slapping them on their cheeks and so on. Spanking is also very common by teachers in elementary and high schools, though not in colleges. No government law has been implemented so far to legally punish such actions as the notion of how to raise children is much different.
The term பங்காளிச் சண்டை specifically refers to misunderstanding between sibilings at an older age when it comes to distributing inheritance. It is common among brothers to fight at the time of partitioning the family's inherited properties. In many cases, after the partition the sibilings don't get along anymore and live without any contact whatsoever.
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