Just as every situation in life has its pros and cons, growing up in a Gujarati joint family is nothing different. There are times when it gets on your nerves staying in a joint family but rest of the time it is a sure shot joy ride. However there will always be a time when you will miss the commotion or nagging done by your house mates aka family members every now and then 🙂
Following are the 12 Things That Happen If You are Living In A Gujarati Joint Family
1) There is no “ Me ” time it is always “ we ” time
Forget answering your lover’s calls, or even your best friends gossip calls. There will always be someone or the other yelling around just behind you so loudly that even the caller can hear it crisp and clear. There is no way out except yelling back “ phone chalu che maro ! ”
2) That one irritating taabariyu !
There is always one super irritating kid in the family, who will poop and pee freely around and play around it, even after teaching him/her that “ susu laage toh mummy ne kehvanu ! ” By the way, that’s the kid who’ll be your laadko / laadki when he/she grows up.
3) More people = More lecturers
Your parents weren’t only the one who bombarded you with free nu gyaan. Of course there were kakas, kakis, motapapas, fiyas , even the kaamwali at times! All of them whom you cannot say “ Tame tamaru kaam jovo ne ! ”
4) There is food, food and more food !
No matter what time of the day or year there will always be too much nashta roaming around in plates at any given time. “ chal kaik khaiye ” is the only way to escape boredom 😛
5) Festivals = more Homo Sapiens
With so many family members there will always be 2x more guests during festivals. All gathered to gossip and laugh so loudly that even their ancestors here it up there. “ Badha hasey etle aapde pan hasvanu ”
6) Mummy na khabri all over the place.
Be it buying things from the next lane or a mall, you will always bump into relatives of either of the members. So beware roaming around with your special one!
7) Vacations mean more and more people yet again !
Somebody is somebody’s fiya or maasi or maama, everybody wants to spend vacation at your place because “ ghar haryu bharyu rehvu joiye ! ”
8) Your cousins are just like your real siblings !
No matter how much you fight with them the moment you are at war with your parents they are your combats. Be it sneaking into the house late night or chilling around all you had to do was call them saying “ aajnu setting karjo yaar ! ”
9) Unwanted Opinions on the way you dress !
100 different unwanted opinions are showered on you regarding how you look in a particular dress and if nothing suffices there will always be “ najar laagi jase ! ”
10) You need to be involved in everything
Your choice doesn’t matter, the family commands. They want a road trip = you have to go to a road trip. They want to play antakshari = you have to play it. “ mane nathi aavu ” does not work and wont work.
11) The Respected “ dada or dadi”
Every Gujarati joint family does have the commanding officer aka dada or dadi. Their wish is the family’s command. The first thing you had to in the morning was to bow down to them !
12) You crave for some solitude but end up missing your family !
Always being surrounded by people makes you want to talk to people all the time even when you are living away form them. Having people around is your comfort. Homesickness is inevitable if you grew up in a Gujarati joint family.
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