THE JOINT FAMILY SYSTEM
Joint family system is almost disappearing in the west. As soon as a boy and even a girl grows young and gets job or joins a profession he or she does not like to live with the parents. They start their lives a new, get married and sometimes have no contacts with families of their fathers or mothers. It is more prominent in the USA where the government provides food to all those who are unemployed. Many people enjoy it -some deplore it. A large number of black Americans live on it for a very long time.
The Problem arises when the old people require help of the younger ones to have a comfortable life. But the younger generation does not pay any attention to it. The government, in most of the countries has started community halls for the old. They get all the facilities including the medical one to sustain their lives. But what about the absence of love and affection that they had showered on their children? This aspect is altogether ignored. Many old men suffer from mental agony (pain disease).
As we ape the west in many things some of us have taken a fancy to dissolve the joint family system in our country too. In some of the cities one can find shelter houses for the old. They are generally started by NGOs (Non Government Organizations) with the assistance of state governments of course. But there is a dire loss of emotional touch here too as in the west.
Joint family system has many advantages you have the guidance and experience of the old and the strength and energy of the youth combined in a fruitful way. Children enjoy the company of uncles and aunts besides their brothers and sisters even when they are grown up. There is love and affection among all the members of the family.
In the rural areas a joint family is a symbol of strength. If four or five brothers live together no one would like to oppose them. They have a social status. It helps them in their day to day bearings. In rural as well urban areas they may have a joint management system too. They can have private limited concerns. In politics too they gain ascendance by forming a more consolidated party. Social organizations as well as political parties would be happy to have them with them.
The greatest advantage of a joint family system is reaped by the
older generation. Go to any hospital or nursing home in India you will find a number of young men accompanying an old patient. They have respect as well as love for them. They, in this way, repay the love and affection that they had received when they were brought up by the parents. Joint family system is a symbol of strength, love, affection and emotions.