By Shreya Prasad
It is that time of year "January 2022" when again we are facing the situation of a lockdown. With the dip in the temperatures, my parents and I are cuddled together in bed on a Sunday afternoon, pondering what to watch next, as most of us have had huge amounts of content in the last two years. Nothing much left.
So, we have the good old option to return to old series and movies, and actually, the saying Old is Gold, as it's the most “suitable” option.Then, anecdotes will be shared, how the entire family used to sit together for “Chitrahar” on Sundays most of the time including family servants and neighbors. I have not experienced, some of it for about school days when I went to go grandparent’s place for the summer holidays. By the time we grew up (the 90s kid) most homes were having cable TV and two television. And now sitting with my parents, I can only imagine the joy of watching something with so many people, as I was brought up in a nuclear family.
Apologies in advance for dwelling on some science facts, but here is will be using some terms that you will be better able to connect. The word “nuclear” energy is produced when the atom (family) is split. That’s true, it has been used for many tremendous uses. But the science also states the nuclear fusion (joint family) where the light nuclei (family members) merge to produce much more energy than the nuclear fission (nuclear family) which is the breaking of the nucleus. Also, one more thing fusion is very difficult to create as the strong repulsive forces (ego) get close together to collide for fusion. Furthermore, the fusion process creates very little waste. Hence, proved, that joint family living is also sustainable.
Sun has undergoing nuclear fusion for millions of years, and it is still burning. That’s what joint families are. Yes, with the advent of nuclear families, women in India have broken the shackles that once held. There are many advantages. But the biggest loss is we as have as a generation has lost of joys of sharing food, reaching a consensus on what to watch together, and adjusting. That’s why in a recent decade, the youth is incapable of adjusting themselves. Relations are being broken. Though we have been tolerant outwardly, our inner tolerance levels have gone for a spin. We are open-heartedly supporting the inclusivity rights, yet hardly bother to take our parents/ grandparents for a trip and are sometimes embarrassed also. I have been there and might be like that in the future too, as we have been wired completely differently. We cannot let anybody else in our lives, though we don’t have any qualms in sharing our whole lives all together on social media, but have apprehensions about connecting with our next-door neighbors.
The youth is not to be blamed for this entirely. With the changing landscape, we have to reinvent ourselves at every step of our life. Maybe that’s the old generation's wrongdoing. Also adding tempering to the already spiced up curry was the advertisement and the marketing in 80’s and 90’s decade. As you closely at the trend of advertisements, you can see a clear jump in the portrayal of a particular product in a joint family setting to a nuclear family. And why not, the main goal of these companies remains the maximization of profits. With more nuclear families in place, it rang a good bell in their sales. Meant more television sets, refrigerators, coolers, and cars to be sold.
There is no denial of the fact advertisements influence us heavily. The point is we have humans, we are really smart and cannot be trained. Yet, the fact is we can be easily tamed by giant corporations and the government.
I leave it upon you, what's good or bad. As an adult, I would have been luckier if had my grandparents told me some interesting tales.
By Shreya Prasad
Kommentare