The breaking down of the joint
family has led to a loosening of extended family relationships. The powerful
motherinlaw of the joint family is emerging as the subdued caretaker of
children, helping the educated daughterinlaw to augment the double income of
all upwardly mobile young couples. The large, amorphous, supportive joint
family that supported a wide variety of people, physically and otherwise
challenged, has been reduced to the nuclear family where everyone is in sharp
focus. Where there is no place to hide—much like the modern corporation, where
there is no place for passengers, everyone has to pull his weight.
There should be one person who
can be a shock absorber in the family. Someone who is not too busy to listen,
to support, to manage the daily tasks of living. This could even be a paid
caregiver or a cook. Networking is the key for working mothers. Networking with
parents, in-laws, neighbours, domestic help and friends.
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