Home

Home is where the heart is - a popular quote and also a hit song by this name sung by none other than Elvis Presley. The name "home" conjures up many thoughts of love, passion, unity, rest, and relaxation, etc.

But our house, what we called home, was facing many new challenges day by day. In our house lived my grandparents, my two uncles and aunties, their two daughters, my mother, my father, and myself. So ours was a joint family. My mother also came from a joint family, so she didn't find trouble in adjusting to this system.

The trouble began when my two uncles married. Both the aunties were from nuclear families. Their guardians gave their daughters' marriage in our household, knowing the benefits of living in a joint family, and they were very vocal about it. But my aunties found it difficult to get along.

They were quite self-centered and not in the habit of thinking of others' benefits. When their daughters, my cousins, were born, they didn't have to take any pain except for childbirth. All the hard work, like taking care of them, their medication, and nursing, was taken care of by my mother and grandmother. My uncles were very happy, grateful, and proud of our joint family system and its benefits. For the time being, my aunties showed gratitude, but as time passed, they forgot all about it and became their old selves.

Regularly, there would be arguments and counterarguments regarding petty matters in the family. Not a single day passed when things went off smoothly. The aunties raised questions about every trivial activity and never wanted to help out with the daily chores. So my mother had to do the heavy lifting to keep the family express running. She had to face harsh words from the aunties. My grandmother always fought for my mother but later on, had to back out due to a lack of support.

Life carried on amidst all these and other challenges, now even on the external front. We have been facing weather extremes recently. For the past few seasons, there has been an increase in the spate of cyclonic weather in and around our region. As if we had been harsh on nature, so she was hell-bent on punishing us. Never in my lifetime before had I seen such a violent storm. Even my mother said she had not seen such a spate of bad weather year on year in her life.

There was an ominous news from the weather office that, in a few days, a severe storm was coming from the bay. The wind speed could go up to 100 miles per hour. The administration was taking precautionary measures as far as possible. Schools were asked to shut down for a few days. These would serve as shelters for the affected people. Then the storm arrived and hit us directly. Wind speed was severe, as we could see robust coconut trees sway down to touch the ground almost. Many big old trees were uprooted. One old banyan tree in our front garden came down heavily and hit directly at the center of our house. That was the end of our lovely home.

Our house was a bungalow type with a thatched roof with hardened mud-dried tiles. They were all destroyed. The big tree trunk lay on the roof until the woodcutters came to cut it down. The branches and leaves had blocked doors and windows. The storm lasted for five hours, but the devastation it left behind, some of which could never be restored. The full town had become a graveyard. Many lives were lost, and many lost their livelihood.

Our home stood divided by the fallen banyan tree. It took almost a month for the wood cutters to remove the main tree trunk. But we still functioned as a joint family. We made makeshift living quarters with the help of tents initially. Then we made a home with bamboo scaffolding after we dismantled the tents.

The aunties now had lost their voice in support of nuclear homes. Seeing the benefits they were enjoying from the joint family, their vocal cords were now quieted down by compulsion.

Even though our home was in shambles, and we were practically living like refugees, we were truly rejoicing and enjoying the fruits of community living. Even our neighbors had joined in because their homes were also shattered by the thunderstorm. We all had government support, and slowly financial and material help was pouring in. It would take time to fully reach our original state.

By the time we had somewhat recovered, a year had passed. That year there was no storm, thankfully, but we had record rainfall. The river that flowed through the town had breached both banks, and the low-lying areas were underwater for more than ten days. We were saved as our home was on higher territory. The affected people needed shelter and support. We were also ready for help, but our two genius aunties blocked our efforts. Our neighbors were volunteering to help and had given accommodation to families in distress. The selfish attitude of our family was condemned by all the townsfolk.

The next year there was the pandemic. Unfortunately, both my uncles were in the clutches of the virus, one after the other. Even till now, our home had not been completely rebuilt, so we were still living life as gypsies. Despite my aunties' selfishness, the neighbors helped my father in hospitalizing my uncles one after the other. The neighbors helped us when their health condition deteriorated. Now I feel this was the turning point. My aunties realized the value of community living and a joint family.

So next year when there was more rain and flooding, my two aunties opened the door of our home to the affected people.

Coincidentally and surprisingly, after the generosity shown by my aunties, there have been no more cyclones and flooding. Our home since then has been rebuilt, and the aunties were the first to vouch for living life together amidst all the ups and downs. Nature and humanity had taught them the benefits of living together in one big home.