MUMBAI: It is our family that nurtures and prepares us to face the world. But in today’s fast paced lifestyle we often have less time to spend with our loved ones and take them for granted. So when this pandemic suddenly pulled the strings forcing the world to come to a halt, the one thing that many of us realised is the importance of staying close to our family. On this International Day of Families (May 15), celebrities tell us how important it is for a child to grow with a family around and how the earlier joint family set-up was way healthier than today’s nuclear families. Read on:
Jasmin Bhasin
Family is everything. I grew up in a joint family, and it’s a completely different experience to grow up with so many people around you. I find myself to be lucky. Everyone had so much influence on me. There is so much that I learnt about acceptance, sharing, caring and of course loving unconditionally. The values that I grew up with made me liberal, open and non-judgemental. Learning so much in a nuclear family set-up is difficult but not impossible. All we have to remember is that every child deserves a happy and healthy family.
Amit Mishra
Till the time I grew up and went out for studies I didn’t even know the difference between a nuclear and a joint family. I belong to a huge family with my father’s side and my mother’s side too and I feel as a child when you’re growing up it's important to have more people around us with whom we can communicate and share our feelings. Being in a joint family adds a broader perspective as there’s more likely a chance of you being connected to somebody apart from your parents. Since my early childhood, I always connected and bonded with my cousins and that gave me a larger perspective on how to understand and cope with a larger group of people. Family is an integral part of any human being, their happiness and sorrow directly affects us in every way. In modern times when families are nuclear there is a lot of unrest in the era. Kids are not used to the love and pampering showered by relatives and grandparents and that’s sad. My personal belief is that even if you live in a nuclear family, stay connected with other members and teach your children the values and importance of all family members and not just their immediate parents.
Chandni Soni
Growing up with a family around is considered a natural process for most of us. It’s much later we realise how blessed we were as kids to have family around us. I grew up not only with my mom, dad and brother but with a bunch of crazy cousins and extremely loving and affectionate uncles and aunts. While growing up, there was never a moment when I was alone. There was always somebody to take care of me whether with my homework or to prepare for my annual function or to cook midnight snacks for my friends. Living with all of them was like a never-ending party. It is going to be altogether a different experience for kids living in a nuclear family and it has its pros and cons. Though the kids miss out on all the fun of growing up with the extended family, it makes them independent and more responsible. In my case I make sure that my daughter Nandini gets the best of both worlds. She gets to spend her vacations with her grandparents and celebrates our birthdays and festivals with her cousins. To conclude parents in nuclear families should make an effort that the child is connected to their roots.
Rahul Bhatia
I have grown up in a big joint family of 26 people and I have learned a lot from all of them. Love, care, empathy, togetherness and the concept of sharing are the few things that I got educated in. I don’t think a child can learn so much growing in a nuclear family. Being in a joint family you can learn a lot about family tradition, your interaction with different kinds of people under one roof also prepares you for the world. I love my family and want to thank my mom and dad for teaching me the values so well.
Avinash Mukherjee
Life is all about loving your family. My parents have been my pillar of strength. Parents love their children unconditionally. Family provides love, security and values. We have understood the value of our family more because of the pandemic. Respect and love should be the basis of every family. For the coming generation, it may be very different as individuality and technology has changed a lot of things, but family will always remain as the core of our existence.
Saahil Uppal
Both charity and education begin at home with children. And family is what a child is exposed to the first thing. I think it’s very important for every child to have a good family atmosphere around. I had an amazing childhood. Although I come from a nuclear family myself, my parents made sure that we stay connected with our relatives as regularly as possible. All the values, morals, learning that I practise, are the things that I learnt while growing up. Not only my family, but my closeness with my grandparents, extended family, and my cousins have helped me in understanding the value of relationship, acceptance and the concept to be there for each other through thick and thin.
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