An Old-fashioned Adolescence?

In this article I criticize the idea that modern ill) entails individuation and breakdawn of the family. Indeed, the family as referred to here is in itself a modern phenomenon. I stress the continued importance of family and kinship ties in contemporary society, with particular reference to India, where bourgeois culture and family is still a strong presence. The main body of my material comes from a study of Brahmin businessmen in the small tawn ofUdupi, in South-west India. Here, young boys graw up with a venJ concrete notion of joining the family firm . These are joint families, and there is no sign that this pattern is weakening. I explore the dynamics of this family situation further through Maghani 's novel, 'Betrothal ',from a merchant milieu in Saurashtra. I conclude that this kind of 'old-fashioned adolescence ' is in no way a matter of the past.