Class 6 Social Science Chapter 9 Notes Family and Community
→ Family: A family is like the first group of people we belong to, and everyone in α family helps each other with different things.
→ Community: A community is a larger group of people, and just like in a family, everyone in a community tries to support one another. There are many types of communities, and they all depend on each other to work well.
Learning Objectives
- What is family?
- What are the roles and responsibilities of a family?
- What is community?
- Examples of community in action
- Communities in urban areas
- Modern communities
- Different types of communities
Introduction
Almost everyone lives in a family. Families are the oldest and most important part of any society. In India, there are different types of families, such as joint families and nuclear families. In a joint family, many generations live together, including grandparents, parents, uncles, aunts, brothers, sisters, and cousins.
On the other hand, a nuclear family includes just a couple and their children or sometimes one parent and children. In English, we have few words to describe family relationships, but Indian languages have many.
For example, Hindi has special terms like bua, tau, chacha, and nana, while Tamil has different words for elder and younger siblings. Interestingly, there isn’t a specific word for ‘cousin’ in most Indian languages because cousins are considered just like brothers and sisters, showing how close family ties are.
What are the roles and responsibilities in the family?
In a family, relationships are built on love, care, cooperation, and interdependence. Cooperation means working together, and each family member has roles and responsibilities towards others. For example, parents raise their children to become responsible members of society, while children help out at home as they grow up, learning important values through daily activities.
In Indian culture, following one’s dharma, or duty, is essential. Families teach values like ahimsa (non-violence), dana (giving), seva (service), and tyaga (sacrifice). Family members often put the family’s needs before their own.
Let’s understand better with some stories
Story 1: Shalini’s Family
Shalini lives in Kerala with her parents, younger brother, grandmother, uncle (Chittappa), aunt (Chitti), and cousin. When Shalini’s uncle faced financial difficulties, her parents bought new clothes for everyone during the Onam festival, even though it meant Shalini had to settle for a simpler dress. This act of sharing shows how family members support each other and shares ups and downs together.
Story 2: Tenzing’s Family
Tenzing lives in Meghalaya with his parents and grandparents. His father runs a grocery store and helps with household chores, while his mother works in a handicraft cooperative. Tenzing’s grandparents assist with his homework and contribute to the community.
The family discusses and plans for future needs together, emphasising the importance of saving for unexpected expenses. Tenzing’s family teaches him the value of cooperation, sharing responsibilities, and planning for the future.
What is Community?
A family is not just connected within itself, but also with other families and people around them. When many people and families are connected, we call this group a ‘community.’ There are other meanings for the word ‘community’ but in this case, it refers to a group of people who come together for common reasons.
Example 1.
For example, members of a community might gather to celebrate festivals, organise feasts, weddings, and other special events. In some villages, people work together to help each other with farming tasks, such as preparing the land, planting seeds and harvesting crops. Communities also agree on certain practices for using shared natural resources, like water, grazing lands, and forest produce.
This is especially true for many tribal communities and is still seen in some village communities in rural India today. These practices, which we can call ‘rules’ (even though they were often not written down), help ensure that everyone in the community has access to these resources.
However, these rules also mean that each family and individual has specific duties to fulfill to keep the community functioning smoothly.
Example 2
Examples of Community in Action
1. Bhil Community in Madhya Pradesh:
In the region around Jhabua, Madhya Pradesh, there was a severe water shortage for many years. Following their tradition of coming together in times of crisis, known as ‘halma,’ the Bhil community decided to plant thousands of trees across hundreds of villages. They also dug trenches to conserve rainwater and built other water harvesting structures.
They did all this work as their duty to their community and the environment, without expecting any payment. Their goal was to serve Mother Earth. In 2019, Shri Mahesh Sharma, who led the Shivganga movement with the Bhil communities, was honoured with the Padma Sori award for his work.
2. Chennai Floods of 2015:
During the Chennai floods, roads were flooded, and people could not move around. Almost all shops were closed, and services were disrupted. Many private groups, especially spiritual and religious organisations, cooked large quantities of food and distributed it to those in need. These examples show how communities come together to help each other without expecting anything in return.
Community in Urban Areas
Community is also present in cities, although it may function differently.
Example 3.
Here’s an example:
Ahmedabad, Gujarat: Over 20 years ago, Kamal Parmar, who owned a small auto-fabrication workshop, noticed some underprivileged children on the streets who had either dropped out of school or had never attended school. He started teaching them every day from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., after his regular work hours, and even provided them with free dinner.
Soon, 150 children were regularly attending these classes, eager to learn. Some teachers from a local school noticed and joined in to help. One of them observed how focused the children were despite having no proper benches or quiet classrooms.
The experience was heartwarming for the teachers, and even some older students volunteered to teach. One of them remarked, “We went there to teach, but instead, we learned a lot from them.”
Modern Communities
New types of communities have emerged over the last few decades. For example, in many urban areas, Residents’ Welfare Associations (RWAs) are formed. These associations create their own rules about things like waste management, cleanliness of common areas, and pet care. People living in these communities participate in making these rules.
Communities are interdependent. For example, RWAs rely on traders for supplies and on municipal workers to handle waste. In our complex societies, everyone depends on many other people and communities.
Exploring Different Communities
We now know that ‘community’ can mean different things. Here are some more examples:
A group of people from a particular religion, region, job, or interest might also be called a community. For instance, the ‘Parsi community of Mumbai,’ ‘Sikh community of Chennai,’ ‘Indian community in America,’ ‘scientific community of Kerala,’ ‘our school’s art community,’ or ‘the village’s farming community.’
In your school, you might belong to various communities: your class, the sports community, the National Service Scheme, the National Cadet Corps, a science club, or a drama club. Communities can be found everywhere, and they play an important role in our lives!