A preference for the nuclear family.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images
For many years now, joint families have been disintegrating and nuclear families taking their place. Now we cannot imagine living in a large family because of the preference for privacy. Houses have been demolished and transformed to flats, and this is one of the vital reasons for the separation of joint families.
Children of the 1970s, 1980s and even 1990s would have experienced the joy of living in a joint family. Grandparents, uncles and aunts would help in day-to-day chores such as cooking, washing clothes, dropping children at school and picking them up, and buying groceries. Members of the joint families were very supportive to each other. We used to spend much of our time with each other; lack of technology was also a plus. No mobile phones, only radio and TV existed. It was great fun watching TV with all the family members and even neighbours. Telecast of cricket matches will lead to bets between uncles and grandfather. On Saturdays, everyone used to watch a Hindi movie and on Sundays, a Tamil movie. Believe me, all would wait a whole week for that. A small TV with a more fun-filled audience. But now we watch a movie in our home theatre with just two viewers.
Eating out or buying food from outside was out of custom then. Whenever there was a power cut or children were unable to sleep, the grandmother will tell them a story. Even adults listen to the story and enjoy it. Children of the present times have not experienced anything like that; mobiles and tabs are their friends and companions.
Are we travelling towards the road of loneliness where technology is a companion and unknown caretakers are the only reliable persons. Life goes on but still somewhere in the heart I feel we are missing something. We are missing a pleasant chat with seven or eight members of the family about how the day went on.
anosh.nishter.sadat@gmail.com
