Ammachi's songs again capture the attention of 3 generations - -
Abe Pachikara, Copyright 2005
Not everything about the extended family tradition is a good thing. For example, you may get less privacy than you want. And hence you may feel there are fewer things that one decides without a family committee.
However, some aspects of interacting with your extended family are priceless... You do get more exposed to the wisdom, broad perspectives and experiences of your elders when you are younger, and you do reduce the probabality of losing contact with younger kin and all their energy, (sometimes aggravating but signature) hubris and irrational optimism as you grow older.
One does not generally decide whether or not they will live in an "extended" or "nuclear" manner. More often than not, you are born into one of the two traditions and don't really experience the other except via a magazine article or similar reference. However, when you travel between cultures as different as that of the US to India, then you are traversing across these lines; perhaps, if you are lucky, you will get to see not only the parts that shock you but also the aspects which are a pleasant surprise.
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