The World Is One Family

A happy family makes for a happy world, says Sujatha Rao. And this is possible if each family member strives to inculcate love and respect for each other so that, ultimately, the ancient Sanskrit aphorism 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' becomes a reality

All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." The above line happens to be one of the most popular lines of Leo Tolstoy from his famous book Anna Karenina.

The desire for being part of a happy family is universal. Before we get into knowing how we can achieve this, let's examine what is called 'family' from the perspective of its three major constituents: people, places, and things.

People

Over the years, the structure of the family has evolved. From the erstwhile multigenerational large families living under the same roof, the post-industrialisation era saw the flourishing of nuclear families due to the socio-economic conditions that the era cultivated.

Even as we speak, families around the world are changing, many becoming smaller, as the number of single-parent households keeps growing.

We Indians love large gatherings. Indian big fat weddings have hundreds of people, making them seem almost like public gatherings.

We even have a legal entity for the Hindu Undivided Family. In our country, movies are made to cash in on our nostalgia for joint family structures, now that most of us have settled into nuclear families. Don't we love those larger-than-life Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham-like frozen parting shots of large families at the end of the movie and try to emulate them within our own families when we have our get-togethers? Big or small, as Edgar Guest's poem proclaims, "It's the stick-together family that wins the joys of earth, That hears the sweetest music and that finds the finest mirth."

Places

A home is a place where the family dwells. While it's true that from the aspect of comfort, the size and luxury of the abode might matter, it appears that from the angle of its hold on the family, these things hardly matter.