The Struggles of Living in a Joint Family

You may find it hard to believe that joint families have not gone completely extinct and that they do still exist in real life, not just in Ekta Kapoor's grand TV series. What is even harder to believe is that those shows are barely exaggerating the pain and agony of living in such families, and in many cases the reality is even harsher.

Too many people
Not only are these people loud and obnoxious, they also decide to control every aspect of your life. If having to hold your bowel movement for 56 hours because you have to share a bathroom is a problem, then let me tell you it only gets worse. During those 56 hours you will have to socialise with every one of your 28 family members who only want to tell you how to live your life and you will have to smile and nod because you cannot disrespect family members. All of this while you're dying, trying to hold "it" in, regretting your decision to not wear adult diapers. 

I would rather be in the isolation of the bathroom forever. But wait, you can't do that because someone else will start knocking frantically while you're at the point of no return.

Too many weddings
If you're a socially awkward, introvert living in a large family then you're in for a hard life. There are so many people getting married throughout the year that you'll often wonder whether your family even has that many eligible bachelors/bachelorettes or if these are just people posing as family members. I have always felt that weddings exist solely to make the guests feel worse about themselves. Your outfit and makeup will never be on point and to top that off, the five million people in your extended family will show up to ridicule you for being fat/being unsocial/not being a student of BUET.

Lack of privacy
Most kids in these huge families have to share bedrooms but even if they don't, no one ever knocks before entering the room, because everything is everyone's business. Every person in your household will know if you buy something to treat yourself/if you fall in love/if you're constipated. Also they will never stop talking about it.

The khalamma grapevine
There are always cousins and aunts and distant relatives visiting and every time you get out of your room, you must make sure you are wearing ample attire that covers head to toe. If you fail to do so then be prepared for the 21st century khalammas telling your entire family what a disrespectful little zit you are. You may also find people trying to get you married off as soon as you reach the age of 16. Just make sure you don't marry into another joint family. Going through this ordeal once is enough for a lifetime.

I will acknowledge that there are upsides to living in big families but for that you need to be a social person who loves weddings. Otherwise I refuse to believe that it is possible to love life when you have to share a bedroom, a bathroom and sometimes [cringe], a toothbrush.