Joint Families and Marriages in India

Times have changed and so have our thinking! No more people prefer marrying their children in join families. To be honest, we think joint families invite more problems and leads to family issues. Apart from our life partner, his family and relatives also play an important role in shaping a healthy environment for marriage. Most of the married women today are independent and fall under the category of working women. This new work culture demands personal space at home for women. But, our Indian families are still moving on those pre- conceived notion that women in which ever situation are made to serve their family. No doubt, being a daughter-in-law of a family you are responsible for the well being of your family. But at the same time, family is also supposed to respect your privacy and give space to your personal life.

There are a number of situations which demand consistency in terms of support and care to the family. But a person can’t keep on showering these things, without getting any returns. Same is the case with the bride of the family, who expects same amount of love and care from her family. Joint families are known to be formed with an atmosphere full of household chores. But, in case where the bride is working it gets difficult for her to manage home and work. Especially, when the parents in-law, expects the bride to invest all her free time in the family and take care of their smallest needs.

The concept of a joint family has been successful in the past, with people more concerned about each others well being. Same can be successful today also, if we start valuing each others priorities and try and understand them. Therefore, these preconceived notions about joint families need to be changed, only then there would be happier and healthy marriage in India.