Now let us examine a typical “extended” family in a poor rural area of
South Asia. The household is likely to consist of eight or more people, including
parents, several children, two grandparents, and some aunts and uncles. They
have a combined real per capita annual income, in money and in “kind” (meaning
that they consume a share of the food they grow), of $300. Together they live
in a poorly constructed one- or two-room house as tenant farmers on a large
agricultural estate owned by an absentee landlord who lives in the nearby city.
The father, mother, uncle, and older children must work all day on the land. The
adults cannot read or write; the younger children attend school irregularly and
cannot expect to proceed beyond a basic primary education. All too often, when
they do get to school, the teacher is absent. They often eat only one or two meals
a day; the food rarely changes, and the meals are rarely sufficient to alleviate the
children’s persistent hunger pains. The house has no electricity, sanitation, or
fresh water supply. Sickness occurs often, but qualified doctors and medical
practitioners are far away in the cities, attending to the needs of wealthier families.
The work is hard, the sun is hot, and aspirations for a better life are continually
being snuffed out. In this part of the world, the only relief from the daily
struggle for physical survival lies in the spiritual traditions of the people.