A-N U-N-I-T-E-D F-A-M-I-L-Y

Person 1: Why is your dad not in good terms with his brother?
Person 2: Because, my dad’s brother didn’t mention my dad’s education details in his son’s wedding invitation.

-- Scene Ends --

Person 1: Why is your mom not in good terms with her sister?
Person 2: Because, my mom’s sister gifted only a coffee set for my marriage. My mom expected much better gift.

-- Scene Ends --

Dad in Chennai: Son, can you come to Chennai for Diwali?
Son in Bangalore: No dad, I really cannot come. I am busy with lot of other works here in Bangalore.

-- Scene Ends --

Husband to Wife: Hey Lalitha, your brother Sudhakar just called me. He is planning for a family get-together next month. He is asking for 1,500/- per head. Being a 4 member family, we should give 6,000 to him.
Wife: What? 6,000? No way. Tell him that our kids have got school exams. We cannot afford 6,000 for a family get-together. Such a waste.

-- Scene Ends --

This being the case in some families, there is a 130 member family that successfully arranges for a family get-together once in a year. They meet every December in a common place (resort, park etc.,). One family among the group of families take charge of arranging the whole show – Inviting everyone for the event, following up with them, booking the meeting place, budget planning, finance arrangement, logistics arrangement, hospitality, events to be arranged on the day of meet, food etc and etc., They book the entire resort and spend the entire day there. Lot of events / games are arranged for people of various age groups (kids to oldies). No one outside the family is allowed inside the resort – strictly only the family. At an average, the cost for this get-together is Rs 1,200 per head. Pretty good, isn't it? The beauty is, irrespective of everyone's busy schedule, EVERYONE in the entire family attends this December fest. Just imagine how difficult it is to make sure that all 130 in the entire family attends this event. More than the ‘Planning’, the very immediate attitude of “I will be there for get-together” needs a special mention. Last time when the family met, the ladies were asked to dress in black and gents in white attire. A picture of the entire family:

My friend Soujanya is part of this tightly-coupled family. She’s the one who told me all these details. This 130 member family is from Soujanya’s mom side. A big network I would say. Her grandfather (mom's dad) 'Suryanarayana Shetty' is the root cause of this 130 member family :) Her grandfather had 7 sons and 5 daughters from two different marriages. Good to see that they live in harmony till date. Envy this lucky family.