The family structure in Kerala was much different in earlier times. It was very similar to the one attempted in the post world War in the communist Soviet Union. During the communist rule, communes were created in each locality. In these communes, several functions which had until then been part of the daily life of the earlier family were collectivized. Cooking and washing were done for the whole group by a team from within for a finite period after which another would take over.
Collectivism was imposed not as a mere matter of convenience but as a deliberate State effort to break individualism and foster socialist communism. This philosophy had given birth to the phenomenon of ‘architectural asceticism’ in the design of communal housing in the 1920’s in the USSR. The constructivist doctrine has at its roots, ‘social condensers’ in the design of communes, which would condense the forces of capitalism on the earlier man and transform him into a socialist and irradiate this philosophy into the masses.
However, the communes could last for hardly a decade. The noble and utopian idea had in it a ‘frenzy for leveling individual thinking and when carried to its limits it was bound to fail. This concept was contradictory to the fundamentals of Marxism, which recommended that the family does not disappear with socialism, but gets reinforced. The end of the communes does not, however, mark the end of community living.
The rise of the flat culture in India is mainly due to the collapse of the joint family system. In earlier times, people and even families joined together to do various tasks. All that have totally disappeared. The age of the nuclear family has resulted in major changes. In the prominent city areas
flats in Kochi are witnessing a virtual sellout. Even before construction begins on a particular real estate project, the entire apartments are sold out in record time.
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