The Great Indian Son Trick

 That fascinating Great Indian Rope trick of yore has become the Great Indian son trick...  with innumerable two or more sons families. 

When did medical practitioners master the art of thus catering to our current Indian craze for sons?  By effectively ensuring that no daughters are born?  
Accident? Or that great unspoken shame, Foeticide practised but never acknowledged? 
Earlier, daughters’ names were not entered into family records, except under exceptional circumstances.  Yet, our hoary literary marvels do revolve around women, aka daughters.
This thought arose during the recent updating of my family tree that threw up an interesting observation:  before the advent of the two son family, for a long period, there were huge families with or without betis’ names on record.   It was held that more kids were on account of high mortality, poor health, and obviously multiple marriages.
Does this health-mortality argument not stand at odds with Our Glorious pre-British past?
That era possibly had another plus: inter-communal relationships appear cordial. Pointer?  The frequency with which the name “Iqbal” occurs in pre-Independence family trees, even Iqbal Devis!!
Where have we gone wrong in our times in fostering present-day bitterness?

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