A Social Family Institution in India

Location: India has an area of approximately 3,287,580 sq. kilometers. It serves as a border to the Bay of Bengal the Indian Ocean, and to the Arabian Sea located to its west. Directly north of India are the Himalayas, the world†s biggest mountain range. India also serves as a neighbor to several different countries. Myanmar and Bangladesh located to its east, China, Nepal and Bhutan to the north, Sri Lanka to the South, and finally Afghanistan and Pakistan on the northwest. Topography: India is separated into 4 main regions, these are the Ganges, Indus Plains, Desert zone, and the Southern Peninsula. Physiologically India is divided ten times. A senior male usually heads families in India. In the senior males household a family can be very large. The senior male†s family can include his unmarried children, married children alongside their wives and kids, unmarried younger brothers and sisters, and married brothers with their wives and children. It is common however for families to separate once the father dies. This idea of family is true for both nuclear family and extended family. As already stated above the size of a typical Indian family is very large. The senior male is responsible for providing the financial assistance to the family while his wife takes care of the house. She assigns chores to all of the females in the household. The Elderly are taken care upon dearly by their family members. The marriage traditions in India have been in existence for a very long time. The have a long and important set of rules that are carefully followed by most. A marriage arrangement is a big responsibility for the parents of both the female and male. A marriage is arranged based primarily on religion, family wealth, and the hope for a good biological reproduction. Marriages in India are no different than in most of the countries around the world. It is a very special event for the bride and grooms family and friends. For both the male and the female marriage is a big change not only socially but mentally as well. Only once married is one truly considered to have made the transition to adulthood. Married couples display a strong for male children. Males are desired more because of financial contribution the may supply for the family. Girls on thew other hand are some times viewed as very big liabilities, The more one has the more liable one is. They are viewed as very expensive to support and require very expensive dowries once they are married. Families that have many girls and very few or no males are in great danger of experiencing financial disaster. The roles played by males and females in the Indian society have a very strong presence. Their roles have changed very little in the last couple of decades. Males are the dominant sex in the society. Females have very little power or control over their lives. The male†s main role is to provide financial stability. India†s educational system is one that is very similar to that held by the British. It consists of five levels of education. Level one is preprimary, followed by primary (which in the American system would equal grades 1-5), middle class (middle school), secondary (9 and 10 grades), and finally higher levels (11 and 12 grades). India s governments is currently working very hard to make the peoples education a top priority. The Indian government supplies the people with free education, even with free education only about half of the children attend school. It is viewed by the Indian people that it is more important for the males to attend school than it is for the females. Out of the 50 Indian population is illiterate, 66% of these are females. Higher education in India is not very big. Out of all of the people that attend primary and secondary education less than 10% go on to higher education. It†s popularity however is increasing greatly compared to past years. India†s collegiate system is divided into three. One of these three types is the religious college. These are colleges found by politicians and by wealthy families. They did this in order to gain popularity amongst the people. Government colleges constitute the second type; these are colleges that are found on the outskirts of big cities. They lack private investments and are therefor founded by the government. The third type is called Professional colleges. These are colleges that mainly receive both government and private aid. Professional colleges are the beset of colleges to study carriers such as medicine, engineering etc. 2-India Literacy rate is very high in numbers but very low in percentages. They have over 400 million people that can read but this constitutes only about 56% of the population. 1- India runs its government under a constitution created in 1949. The president of India is elected by the parliament and serves a term of five years. The Prime Minster of India is also a very powerful man in this country. It is said that he has more power than the president. Lok Sabah, otherwise know as the Lower House of Parliament is controlled by the ministers. The federal Parliament consists of no more than 250 members. The President appoints twelve of them and most of the others are appointed by their state. The Lower House has no more than 545 members. Just like the president they serve terms that last fore five years. In case of a national emergency the president can overrule any state government.