Nayars Family Structure
The evolving family system of the Nayars, a caste group of Malabar India, provides a synthesis of traditional customs and modern influence which serves to enhance the lives of its members. The development of an industrial state in India has effected their family life, but has not destroyed it. The Nayars have demonstrated that adaptation is possible in family structure. To understand the Nayar family group, it is necessary to study their marriage practices, family life, and traditional structures. The family groupings have always been arranged on the basis of dependence through matriarchal lines; in a family group, one's mother is the most highly regarded individual, and the family group is based on her presence. Thus, until recently, Nayars continued to live with their mothers throughout their lives in a family unit called the taravad. A taravad would characteristically be made up of all the direct descendants of the female, which often included several hundred adults and a large number of children. The institution of marriage is not highly regarded as a component of family structure in Nayar society. At a time just before puberty, it is stated that "linked lineage played their most important role at the pre-puberty marri
The rise of industrialization is generally expected to give birth to a nuclear family structure "the most basic group, where membership is limited to spouses and their children"(McVey, 1995:243). However, while the ties between a man and his wife have been strengthened, the matrilineal system "form of kinship reckoning in which decent is traced through the female line"(Womack, 1998:422) of the Nayars had not disappeared. With the disappearance of polygamy "a system of marriage in which a person of either sex may have more than one mate"(Womack, 1998:422) the institution of marriage has changed considerably. As an example, "the tali-tying ceremony has now been abandoned and men expect their wives to be virginal at the time of marriage and to remain faithful thereafter" (Goode, 1983:65). Men are now able to set up households with their wives and to form nuclear families. These trends are standard inder the conditions of industrialization, much of the old tradition remain. The taravads are now divided their property split up among the members, but the matrilineal system remains in the form of smaller tavaris, which continue to exist. Social relations among the members of a tavari have not changed greatly. There are differing roles for males and females, and the age is still the determinant of status. The grandmother, for instance, is the ultimate authority on "proper social behavior", just as in the taravad. The modern Nayar family pattern is characterized by great flexibility. A Nayar woman may live with her husband for part of her life, and in her tavari for another part. Husbands are often welcome in the tavaris, as are children who may be sent to their grandmother for their education. The security of the tavari and the joys of the nuclear family are blended in many combinations by the Nayars. Some old roles of the taravad are no longer existing. The el
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1269
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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