Together under the same roof

It’s all about loving one’s family,” they say, but how true is it? In this time and age, many youngsters pay much importance to their privacy, independence and making it on their own. Meeting the extended family is limited to ‘special occasions’ or in many students’ cases, for summer holidays. With more and more youngsters following the path of ‘living independently’, one feels the concept of a joint family may soon become a part of history. Or has it already?

On ‘World Family Day’, Metrolife asked many youngsters whether they prefer to be in a nuclear family or a joint one. As expected, most of them said they enjoyed their personal space and getting things done their own way without anyone’s interference. They believe that theirs is a generation that has many pre-occupations, which give them very little time to bother about things at home.

Varun Gupta, a student of business management, originally hails from Gujarat, where being in a joint family is a common phenomena. “But off late, things have changed. Now we all live in the same locality, if not in the same house. But that does not change much, we still meet up regularly. I feel we are used to having things our own way. When we live independently, we don’t have to bother much about adjusting with our extended family all the time,” says Varun.

Arundathi, a mass communication student, misses living in a joint family. But she does enjoy the occasional visits made by her grandparents, uncles and aunts from the US. “We had to part as my aunt and uncle had to live in America,” she says.  “Living in a joint family has lot of advantages as you have many people who you can fall back on and one becomes a lot stronger. Quite a few may avoid the situation because there is too much commitment involved and in today’s fast life, one can’t really commit 100 per cent.”

Prarthana, a law student, who lives in a joint family, agrees with Arundathi and says that having an extended family  helps one grow into a complete person. “Plus one will never need a television,” she laughs. If after marriage, she is given a choice to shift into a joint family, Prarthana says she would refuse.

“Growing up in a joint family is fun but at the same time, opinions are also formed easily. Entering a new joint family would be difficult as there will be only strangers around and keeping each one happy will be a task I don’t think I will be able to handle,” says Prarthana.

“Making a choice is a difficult thing,” says Rajitha Nair, another law student. “Having lived in a nuclear family all my life, I can say that it has many advantages and suites my lifestyle. One can’t really comment on the other without having lived in that scenario as well. But being in a nuclear family surely does not mean we ignore our extended family. At the end of the day, they are still very much a part of our lives,” she says.