Joy of generations living under the same roof

There is no denying fact that the order of the day is people run after big bucks. Fashion and technology spur the speed of thrills and separate generations and relations. A great divide is noticeable. I am not going philosophical. I have never attended any course on the art of living.
But I had the privilege to visit a household in Kolkata in India on 16th January 2012 to grasp what is art of living. Indeed a rare rainbow to watch for the eyes.
My well wisher in Kolkata, associated with the city of joy, took me to a family of generations living together. I boarded the famous yellow taxi flying in Kolkata. The taxi zigzagged between buildings, bikers, and hand pulled rickshaws, cars, people and potholes and halted near the building on the main road located near the National school.
Nearby Renault Pulse cars’ show room advertisement welcomed me. The jingle says “add pulse to life” and “Drive the Change”. Wow. I exclaimed how warm the welcome tone was.
As soon as I entered the house I shook hands with persons representing three generations. Said happy New Year and happy Pongal a Tamil festival dedicated to “Sun God” for good harvest.
I never thought in my life that I would be doing this ‘hello’ to three generations joyfully living under one roof for more than one hundred years. After doing it I didn’t go super restless. Here I didn’t count the statistics. But I really count the joy of infinity and relationships. In their warmth and smiles I could feel their strong conviction and confidence. In fact it is as strong as the foundation of the age old high ceiling building in which the whole family stays together, eat and laugh together.
The relationship is about a joint family system. It is very unique to the Indian society. I never grew up in a ‘joint family’. Therefore I got thrilled when the elder and the younger members of the family I met listed their glorious days of the past and the present. What distinguishes a “Hindu Undivided Family” is the common kitchen.
The joint family I know is a sacred institution deeply rooted in Hindu heritage. Slowly of late its prestige has plummeted in the context of growing preference for a nuclear family system. I am not here putting arguements forward for and against of the joint family system. I am not interested in going for a debate about the pluses and minuses of the institution.
It is really a computer mind game to me the moment I think about how joint families manage efficiently reconciliation of differences of both family finance and external social relationships.
When I said goodbye to every one and boarded the yellow taxi back to my place I fondly recollected that how relationships are sometimes like an outhouse and unless we take care of them, they begin to fill up with more and more waste. I also realized that to keep a joint family, a spirit of selfless service, tolerance and broad-mindedness is a must.

To keep up such virtues surely are not as easy as munching of “bel puris and puchkas” from the road side makeshift eateries in Kolkata.
Nor that easy as the recent famous Tamil film “kolaveri” that any one can do it in modern living!
A mindset is required to live in a joint family.
No management school will teach you how to do?

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