PLETHORA OF FAMILIAL AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS IN MANJU KAPUR’S HOME

Abstract

The institution of family is considered essential for the existence of society. Family serves as a shock absorber in the times of crisis and stress. Benefits of family centered interventions are being recognized more than ever before. Home, Manju Kapur is not about her personal analysis but on her intellectual thinking based on her academic experience. Almost all her books deal with generations of same family. She prefers this set, may be, to show the flux in the characters of each generations. She wants to extend the thought that all the generations are the same and make same mistakes again and again. Home shows the choking closeness and destructive limitations of Indian family values.  In this novel, Kapur portrays a family of three generations living under one roof. It has altruistic elders, a mutual support system and an intimacy that makes joint family a place for caring, sharing and pleasure. But this novel does not dwell much upon this aspect rather focusses on tensions and rivalries for finding your own space, escaping the shadow of others and live your life on your own terms. The world of joint families is not the world of larger happy family of films. In spite of urbanization in contemporary Indian society, role of family is always central in the life of an individual. Family structure is conceptualized as the configuration of role, power, status and relationships in a family which depends upon family’s socio economic background, family patterns, extent of exposure.