My experience of growing up in a joint family

Would you believe twenty five people living in the same house for years ? Believe me I was the part of this gang when I was growing up. Joint family culture in India was common until few years ago. Still in rural India we can see some people living in joint families but it is diminishing with time. You will rarely see any joint family in Urban India these days. In my experience, growing up in a joint family is one the best thing that happened to me in my life. I agree there are pros and cons of joint family but I would say we have more advantages than disadvantages. I have list down some of my experiences living in a joint family in India.

First of all, You never get bored when you live in a joint family.You always have someone to talk and play. In today’s world people look for social network because people don’t have anyone to talk , spend time and express their feelings. In joint family you learn how to be social. You learn to sacrifice as you will see instances where other members of the family will give up their things for you.

You learn to respect the elders.You learn how to behave with the elders and younger ones. You learn discipline. As the family is big you have to do certain things according to time table. You naturally become more disciplined as you have to follow some daily routine.

Sharing is caring — You share your gadgets , dress and food with your cousins. These are small things but this helps you grow up as a caring person.
You are never alone. You don’t get bored easily as there will be someone always to talk and listen to you.

You learn the team work — I have apple orchards at my home town in shimla. I remember we all family members together use to do all apple related work by ourselves. Your work gets divided when you work together. No matter how tough or complicated is the work , if you work as a team you can easily complete that work. Moreover you don’t need to be dependent on other people for your work.

Enjoy the outdoor games — These days I can see kids busy in playing video games and surfing internet in their homes. You must have observed when you visit your friends or relative’s home , kids get busy in playing outdoor games rather than playing video games or surfing internet. Kids who live in a joint family turn out to be more social, mature and caring.

You don’t live in virtual world — In today’s world most of us live in virtual world . People use facebook ,whataspp , twitter and other social media applications to get connected to people. In joint family you have the people to talk and share your feelings. When I am in my home with family , I don’t use my mobile and internet for hours as there are people to talk and interact. In Joint family ,bond you form with your family members and relatives are much stronger.

Emotional Intelligence — We are emotional creatures . I think we learn to manage our emotions also when we live in a joint family. This is because we experience both positive and negative behavior of the people around us frequently.We all know emotional intelligence has lot of impact on our relationships.

You Enjoy festivals and occasions.You always enjoy the festivals more when you have a big family. Emergencies — You always get support on a personal issues, financial problem, emotional support or medical help, you will always find some family member who can guide you and help you. You can always share your problems with your family members. Finally there will be some members in the family who will have an unconditional love and support for you. In my case my grandparents always had this unconditional love and support for me.

We rarely find joint families today but I would say living in a joint family teaches us lot of things.