Every member should contribute to the happiness of family

Family is the smallest unit of a nation, Society is also made by groups of families. Family can be defined as a basic unit of society which is the first school of learning of a man. Family is a group of person whose relations to one another are based upon consanguinity and who are kin to another. Family is a group of people living with concern, love, caring, helping, friendly, affectionate in one house. There are many types of family. Some live in a small family, big family, joint family, single parent family and many more.

Indian culture was known in the world by its strong joint family system which provided strength and new dimensions to society. In ancient times, children had great love and respect for their parents and grandparents, but this can't be easily shown in last 3 decades rapidly growing nuclear family system over joint family system is a major reason for this.

We are living in a very busy and competitive world, where no one is having time to share with his/her family members, which leads to domestic violence. Parents don't have time for their children, husbands don't have time for their wives, which is resulting in isolation for other member/s. They don't have time to celebrate their achievement or to discuss their problems. In this materialistic world, every person is running to acquire more and more materialistic property, to have luxurious life in future. But they don't know that they are losing their present.

One of the major reasons why new generation was desperate to break out of the joint family was the attitude of the older generation to impose their views and thoughts on younger members of family which leads to repression and suppression giving rise to feelings of discontentment and unhappiness. Family members need to communicate openly and honestly with one another.The elders in the family must encourage and create an environment conducive to open communication. In the absence of such an environment, family members can feel repressed and suppressed that can lead to discontentment. It is also important that all the members in a family feel accepted for who they are and as they are. The crucial part of acceptance of one another is acceptance of our own weaknesses and limitations and that of others.

To maintain harmony in the family, decision-making is very important. Elderly members are experienced and mature, hence their decisions should be considered on priority. It is very heart throbbing news that mass family suicides are being reported from different parts of our country. The major reason for such incidents is due to acute financial burden.

Mutual interdependence is the main basis of a family and a society. A man cannot live in isolation. He has to depend on others for many things. Global financial meltdown did not affect seriously in India because of various reasons. The bond in Indian families is very strong and another reason is 75% of the people of India live in villages and maximum number of them are engaged in agriculture works

Rational approach tells that happiness is a feeling. It is probably the balance of pains and pleasures, fortunes, sacrifice, love, cooperation, harmony, justice, truth and decency. As one grows in age the supreme tension free happiness of childhood is replaced gradually with tensions and unhappiness related to our increased responsibilities.

Happiness cannot be seen isolated from those with whom we interact. Every interaction, direct or indirect, can result in different emotional feeling. Most of the unhappiness in the family is the result of disputes over property and one must recognize this and see that through will or otherwise this should be eliminated as the cause for unhappiness. For having a long lasting happy experience we have to ensure that not only we become happy but others also become happy. This is the prime path to happiness in the family.