Question

Essay on My Family, Modern, Nuclear, Indian Family System

Answer 1

Let me start with one viral video that I watched on YouTube. Aishwarya Rai once had an interview with Legendary TV show anchor David Lettermen, those times she was getting attention from Hollywood and American fans. She was invited to this famous show where the host tried to mock her couple of times and then he tried to mock Indian family system, I am sure he was just trying to be funny. He asked, “Do you live with parents, is it true?” She replied “Yes”. Letterman followed up with question “Is it common in India for older children to live with parents” and she replied “It’s fine to live with your parents, because it’s common in India that we don’t have to take appointment with parents to meet for dinner”, host replied on that “I think, we learned something new tonight”. She nailed it, right.

The reason I am telling this incident here is, though she was at peak of her career, on top of that she was in another country, she was proud Indian family values. In today’s generation, we are exposed to internet, social media, foreign movies where we see different family settings. Most of us also get influenced by it in some or other way. As we are progressing we are forgetting the India family values. I agree that one has to adapt with time and it is inevitable. But to completely cut out yourself from something known and jump into the unknown is not a safe option.Nowadays we tend to have nuclear families, joint families are becoming extinct day by day. It’s not that I don’t understand that it is need of time, but we are adapting to western culture without understanding it. No country, culture or people are 100% right, we need to take best of the all options and blend it into the best possible solution.

India is the only country where we touch elders feet. There was another viral video on the internet where Indian born American student touched University dean’s feet on stage on graduation day. I also touch elder feet to respect them, but my parents don’t force me to do that. If I feel that I respect or I feel like taking blessing from elders then only I touch their feet. No other family values teach this. In India, we share a good family bond between all family members. I am also aware that our family value system is not the ultimate system, it also has flaws.

Why I am telling you all these. Before telling you anything about my family, It was necessary to set up the stage. Now let me introduce my family.



We have 5 family members, my granny, my parents and an elder sister. My granny is the funniest person around, she cracks awesome jokes, she is 94 now but even I feel jealous of her energy. My father works in private company, he is little strict but he does express his love to all of us. My mother is my hero. She left her job when was at its peak, she always wanted to fashion designing. In our middle-class mentality, we think fashion designing is for rich ones. But she took the challenge and she made it big. Then I have an elder sister who is doing a degree in biotechnology. And I finally, I myself studying in 12th arts.

Nobody ever forced me to take science, as it has great career options. I do agree that, but my family knows I have artist hidden in me. They support my decision to join arts college. By definition, we are a nuclear family, we have our uncles, cousins in the native place, we meet them twice a year. We participate in each other’s celebrations and events. There were some issues in both families, but elders from both families sat and sorted them out. My granny was a great mediator.

My sister and I love western outwear but same way we love Indian traditional clothes too. I want to be a rock singer but I am learning Indian classical music too. In short, I would say my family is best of both worlds. We don’t curse western family culture and we are proud of India family structure too. My family took best from both systems.

Conclusion

In this globalized world, we need to learn from other family systems and the same time we should preserve and upgrade Indian culture system too. We should take all that is good and implement in the family. End of the day, the family will be with you, no matter what.