"Family Bond is important"
The live show of the two Behl sisters being rescued in Noida has left India shocked and upset. These two were both educated girls over the age of 40 and daughters of a retired army officer. One does feel sorry for those who live alone and cannot handle the loss of their near and dear ones. The two skeleton like sisters were taken out from their house by the Police and deposited in the I.C.U of a hospital. One died while the other is still fighting for her life. Six months there were no relatives or a friend who took the initiative of either showing them how to handle the loss of their parents or of their brother leaving with his wife and settled far away from them. It was the neighbors who contacted the Police. The door was broken and the sisters were rescued from a dirty stinking house.
The joint family system that existed in our older generation now we realize is so valuable. There were jealousies and there were spats over useless egoistic matters but in the end blood was thicker than water and everyone stuck together in a crisis. It was upto the elders in the family to keep everyone happy and give the same attention to the daughter-in-laws and grandchildren. There were no lonely moments. Yes! May be at times one felt intimidated by so many members of the family. My generation got more independent and moved far away from the interference from in-laws which got over bearing and we thought we know the best. My generation went on a trip of bringing up children our way who sometimes ended up a confused lot of western influence which was far more open minded and what we call modern where there was no time for any one and infact can be called selfish.
Younger generation today has gone back to the joint family system in a big way. The girls work to afford the luxuries and also to pitch in to a more flourishing household. Hence found it more convenient that the in-laws or parents share the responsibility of looking after their children at home. You may pay a nanny an obscene amount but a grandmother or an aunt cannot be replaced. Infact the younger generation has also gone back to the old off the kitchen shelf grandmother ways of treating the child with more organic stuff with less side effects. There is an emotional security and the support of so many members of the joint family through their depressed days and is a boon to many. If these sisters had reached out to their relatives in time or vice-versa they would have not been in the I.C.U today. It is depressing that these two sisters were all alone to cope by their friends and by their brother. Just shows that how busy your neighbors are too, not to worry about you. Money cannot fight depression nor can fame and name. It is the family and may be some very close friends who will come to you because of their personal relationship with you. Today’s joint families are very much broad minded where space is given to each member yet responsibilities shared and in this fast life it is a boon to have your children grow up with the right family values than left at a play school or nurseries with nannies.
Depression, we see can be lethal and loneliness can kill you. Even Indians abroad who have their parents in some tiny villages die a lonely death as dollars sent to them cannot substitute the rejection and in old age defending for themselves. So, in today’s world it is not money that matters but the bond of families and friends is what is precious.
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