Our family system is unique and culturally distinct from any other family system in the world. We are social beings as we evolve further and further. Though some of us are quite unsure of the role of family as a social system, we try to codify the semiotics of patriarchy or matriarchy without any idea of social security of the children or the other dependents in general. Do we teach our children our family system? What are the responsibilities of her/his role in the family? Do we support our families while experiencing any social challenges or stigmas? Tough questions, indeed. No quick answers for them, until one does some reflection on one’s own social life/family?
Several families teach their children about various responsibilities practically but not so common in the cities or in the semi-urban space. We can rationalise the blueprint of our cultural codes by revisiting them or analysing them with the help of our elderly people of various domains. There could be advantages and disadvantages for all in such an analysis. Nonetheless you may get to know what makes us to prefer a particular way of life in our society by choosing to have a life-partner.
There is a debate on uniform civil code happening across the political or intellectual circles of this nation. Is it true that our family members are busy working all the time and end up shaping the financial well-being of the children? Can they influence the behaviour or attitude of their children? Most of us believe, media narratives hijack their system of thinking and hence, their attitude is absolutely wedded to media magicking. Can we change this now through our education system? It is a long way to go for many of us in the system to galvanise the resources for social intelligence or social skills. Then, how do we organise the same for some specialist studies on our indigenous family system(s)?
Our family system(s) can be strengthened only when we understand our role as parents and grandparents at first. Certainly, the role of a brother/brother-in-law, sister/sister-in-law, daughter/daughter-in-law, son/son-in-law, mother/mother-in-law and father/father-in-law cannot so easily be understood by just watching several TV serials. We can have some learning modules on family values or family system at the school or college level. Most of these commercial serials seem to propagate negativity and nefarious designs of unethical social life happening in some remote areas or in imaginary life. Some of these tv dramas are exemplary in capturing the crisis of the present generation and suggest them innumerable ways to confront them with some common sense.
Our mosaic of cultural imprints dwell on what we watch and think all the time. Unfortunately, our social thinkers could not do anything substantially to transform the popular media or popular culture in the last decade. For that matter, even our public policy on media is yet to evolve in this direction. As a result, we might possibly end up in cultural anarchy or cultural regimentation in our society. Culture remains untouched when you look at only simplistic solutions without delving deep into its cultural ramifications if our social belief or social harmony gets disrupted with artificially imposed uniformity in the name of a regulated social system.
Social negligence remains a quagmire for us. We are not at all worried about the psychological well-being of our family by neglecting them or avoiding good quality time with them every day/every week. Cultural alienation takes place with some of our family members living abroad. Some of these people indulge in remote-controlling every one of the family members here in the motherland and stay catapulted with their 24×7 work culture. They may be quite loyal to their family/career and their absence may disengage some of their family members for ever. Life is lost/won in working but not living. Sometimes, I do think, life is lost/won in reading and writing all the time.
Our melange is remarkable for a significant number of cultural transitions and of course, rampant with irrational or illicit cultural or social regimentations too. Many give way to the push and pull of cultural invasion and sometimes to cultural hegemony without any individual space for independent thinking. Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote, “No society is as large as an individual.” The West has been caught up with radical individualism for a long time. Why should we replicate the west everywhere? The East has so many meaningful solutions for the disorganised social behaviour or cultural anarchy/social fragmentation affecting the concept of family as such, wherein our traditions are being sabotaged in the name of the epistemological dominance of neo-colonisation. Do we explore them systematically?
Our cultural heritage and inheritance play a vital role in prevailing over the drastic transformation of our perceptions and semiotics of our cultural ideologies too. Fortunately, most of our ancient wisdom either spiritual or medical/herbal therapies including yoga are all inbuilt in our family traditions. The cultural fragmentation of the West has been the result of their pursuit for mindless materialism and involvement in so many internecine wars over a century. The war-torn areas in the world including Ukraine remain vulnerable to any sort of exploitation by the predators among the oppressors. Families suffer with excruciating pain and hunger even in Afghanistan when the subjugation of women and their liberty have become a glaring reality because of cultural hegemony and internal colonization.
Cultural imperialism is in the currency of our social debates and intellectual discussions today. Why do we bury our ancient schools of thought on Astro-medicines or Herbal medicines without any sort of contemplation? None speaks about our tribal medicines or folk therapies in this era of electronic colonisation. Market monopolies thrive in this sphere of corporate consumerism by branding such indigenous traditions negatively in our social/media discourse. Most of our indigenous traditions are still being practiced through family lineage and heritage too. Our families are strong enough to withstand all types of cultural invasion or intrusion.