To bring about a change in families is a gargantuan task and a milestone that should be achieved sartorially.
Families need to focus on women-led, child-focused, and elderly-sensitive people in the structure.
Recently, the International Families Day was celebrated on May 15th.
Families which always had been a source of warmth and care have now become dysfunctional as cases of murder, violence or suicide have come to be reported in particular families. These things present a scenario of 'social illness'. But generalizing this observation shall be dangerous at this moment. These cases somewhere point to the weakening of our traditional family system. Increasing instances of crimes and that too which are done by children of the families is also posing deviations within the society.
Family has been the foundational institution of society. Family has acquired primacy in our interpersonal and social relationship dynamics. So far..there has still not been found any other better alternative than family. Despite the irregularities that have crept in, a family has still withstood onslaughts from a globalised world.
The social conditions in our society that have led to such a crisis is a compounded affair. Reforms both behavioural and attitudinal are required and both of them should be priortised equally. Society is not an institution that has been created by the government, so society has to take reforms which are not politically driven instead should be society driven.
Dialogue within the family shall work as a panacea to solve several crises faced by the family. Most of the families are actually fragmented from within. Candid and heart-to-heart dialogues between family members have got so rare. Parent-children dialogue has also been reduced. They have become extremely formal and superficial. Advancing adolescence and depleting mutuality poses many unforeseen challenges.
Excessive individualism is also responsible for the death of sociation between family members. Indian societies will have to pay a huge price if they continue to emulate Western societies without actually understanding the context. We all forget that the world and the living are all about togetherness.
Privacy makes us blind to ideas of collective sharing. Sharing leads to a commonality of ethos, likes, and dislikes. Mutuality and collective participation is strongly waning in societies.
Lack of transparency in relationships is breaking the bedrock of mutual trust. Ideas of private space are constantly eroding the idea of mutual trust which has impacted togetherness negatively. People don't get to gain insights about each other. Loners are now found everywhere. People forget that they are taking the other person for granted which is leading to conflict and confrontation.
From the basic to high-level events, informality has totally lost out of space. Mindless craze for events has caused the authenticity to diminish away. Artificial conversations and customary articulation has become the order of the day which is causing irreparable harm to relationships.
Families are also declining because of disregarding the contribution of our mothers. Men will have to rise above the traditional male mindset. Equality of security, respect, and opportunity is much needed by both the male and female members of the family.
Achieving a reformed family in the face of present challenges is a matter that merits deeper analysis. An enlightened discourse is much essential on this subject.
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Reference:
- theindianexpress.com