Family System In India

By Manu Singh

It’s 2021 and the meaning of this word – FAMILY – still doesn’t have a structured definition. It is just a feeling that we share with the people we are related to (mostly by blood). The Indian Family system has gone through several changes in the past decades, statistically/demographically as well as emotionally.

Earlier, during 70s-80s, there were more joint families. There were also a lot of siblings in one family, and they all shared one roof until the end of time. Though the sisters moved after marriage, the brothers with their individual families lived with their parents only. They all lived together, physically and emotionally too. The children then grew up with more patience and values.

If we recall our ancestors and the families of their time, we can easily relate with the difference in the family systems of back then and of now. We all had “nani-ghar” and “dadi-ghar” when we were young, where the entire family got together annually. All the cousins and relatives collected under one roof, even if just for some festival or family function. We can remember so many traditional activities and memories from those times. That was another feeling of being with the “family”. Those who know would already be in those nostalgic thoughts by now.

Today we see that all these rituals are fading away. There are no more joint families or family gatherings, or maybe there are but definitely not as much as before. People have started moving to nuclear families and getting busy in their own lives. Nobody has time for anyone. The word FAMILY has become just a formality. It is now a responsibility without any emotional connect.

Family structure has seen a drastic change with time. People have grown in their lives and status but there has been a huge decline in their feelings and moral values. This is the reason why most teenagers feel detached from their own families now-a-days. The bond that a family is supposed to have appears only in theories.

There is a need to give importance to and acknowledge this change, which gets easily ignored in the fast-paced world we’re living in. This is what is indirectly shaping the emotional construct of our youth. In the desire to grow and develop financially and independently we’re losing sight of the bigger thing. Values and ethics are what makes us human and we should keep holding on to that as long as we can.

By Manu Singh