Cherishing family relationships !

Editor's Desk

The changing face of modern families

Most of us are familiar with the old proverb, "It takes a village to raise a child". It means it takes more than one person (parents) to teach a child the ways of life. In olden days the village role was performed by grand parents, uncles, aunts, nieces and nephews. There was a "family system" in place also known as consanguine (blood related) family. The family system provided the love, comfort, and emotional support that children needed to develop into a happy, healthy, and secure adults. In today's modern world, there are neither villages nor these extended family relations. Individuals have moved away from their families due to urbanization and globalization. The village role is primarily performed by parents and friends. The extended family are mostly connected through messaging software (like Skype) and telephones (like Vonage)! Thus, the family system is broken into "family units" also known as conjugal nuclear family. Is this new family unit good enough to raise kids? Only time can answer this question!

If you think you know the definition of the word family, you are in for a surprise. In today's world, the definition for "family" is provided by government organizations like social security (head of household + dependent parents, wife and children) and supporting organizations like insurance companies (head of household + wife + children; does not include dependent parents). This raises big questions: Are child-free couples families? What about cohabiting couples? Foster parents and their charges? Elderly sisters living together? Grandparents raising grandchildren? How about fictive kins living together? Thus the definition of family is not what you feel, believe or want to be.

Forget about the present, what about the future? With the advancement in reproductive technologies, a baby might have several donors - egg donor, sperm donor, surrogate (mom) donor - while being raised by a non-donor. Additionally, due to the frozen technology a child can be conceived long after a biological donor has died. This opens up numerous options in the family structure and can give sufficient headaches for government and insurance organization to deal with!

In this edition, we have picked up content to cherish the family system and family units. In the brain-tickler section know more about the first Indian-American Miss America Nina Davuluri and re-live the winning moments. In the health section learn about Ovarian cancer and be aware about the brain-eating bacteria in drinking water. Enjoy the family song picks in English song and Tamil song section. Now, read, enjoy and share the magazine with your network!

• In the Brain-tickler category:
  • Nina Davuluri: Creating History - the first Indian American to be crowned as Miss America
• In the Health Topic section:
  • Learn about Ovarian cancer in "Ovarian Cancer Awareness: because it matters ..."
  • Are you using tap water? Beware of "Brain eating ameoba in US tap water!"
• In the English Song category:
  • Listen to our English song Picks - What a wonderful world: Family collection!
  • Listen to the picked songs continuously with our Jukebox!
• In the Seriously Funny section:
  • Watch the clip - "Family Parking"
  • Read the humor, "Now, explain to your mother ..."
  • Read the humor, "Subtle difference between "complete" and "finished" !"
• In the Surfboard section:
  • Read the story "Family picture!"
• In the Tamil Picks section:
  • Enjoy the 10 Tamil songs picked out of 20+ songs to cherish the family relationships.
  • Enjoy the video picks continuously, on-demand in our new video channel.
  • Listen to the song picks continuously in Jukebox.
  • Read the tamil poem picks "Uravu" and a thought nugget "Vaathu Madaiyan"
• In the Recipe Spot section:
  • Learn how to make "Brinjal Curry (Ennai Kathirikai Kulambu)" at home.
• Nuggets:
  • Enjoy our humor nuggets in various section of this edition
    - "Nuclear family ..."- in Editor's desk section
    - "It is not flesh and blood ...", "Heartless world ..." - in Health section
    - "Family disasters ..." - in Surfboard section
    - "Advantage of living in a large family ..."- in Reader's footprint section
    - "Advantage of growing up with siblings ..." - in Your feedback section
    
• Get Inspired by watching Steve Job's video on his first anniversary, "7 Secrets to Success"

As always, we are very confident that you will enjoy our picks. Write your feedback about this issue by clicking on the email icon or feedback icon. We truly value your opinion, thoughts and time.

Nuclear family ...

Image credi:plus.google.com

Nobody has ever before asked the nuclear family to live all by itself in a box the way we do. With no relatives, no support, we've put it in an impossible situation. ~Margaret Mead

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