Its common in India to find joint families. I myself have had the pleasure of staying with several families as a guest on various occasions. A joint family is when the entire family (mom, dad, uncle, brother, cousin, sister, nephew, grandma, brothers sisters aunts cousin twice removed...) all live together in the same home. WHOA. Wait a second...how is that even possible?!?! Usually in the Joint families the family owns an entire building dedicated to their family (each couple having their own room and sharing only a common kitchen, living space and bathroom). Now this concept might seem completely suicidal for us Americans who only deal with our family once a year on Thanksgiving...but here in India, anything less than daily interaction with your family is simply unheard of. The word 'family" here has a very
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