It was actually 178 members ...
World's Largest Family Take All Day Over Meals
KARNATAKA, INDIA, July 24, 2004: As one shift of the 178-strong Narsinganna family finishes eating, another hungry batch replaces them. Feeding the family takes up most of the day, and the family women cook in two-hour shifts, squatting before the wood fires in the smoky kitchen to prepare 1,600 millet rotis and vast quantities of vegetables and lentils. "Cooking and housework is all that we know," Saraswati, the family's oldest woman, said resignedly. The men eat first, served by the girls under 11 years old who do not yet cook. Dozens of infants crawl in and out of the laps of their elders, helping themselves.
Five generations - about 130 people - live in the ancestral home, with the remaining 50-odd family members accommodated nearby. "It is compulsory to eat together twice a day in the main house," said Bhimanna, the 71-year-old patriarch. He explains that the family that eats together stays together, bringing happiness and security. This is why they continued to live together when the traditional Indian joint family is swiftly disintegrating. They believe that the womenfolk had kept them together, preferring brides of around 15 years old who had not studied beyond the sixth grade. A senior Narsinganna pointed out that keeping the women under control ensured harmony - undue freedom could spell ruination. "We consume what we produce and share everything," said Thiranandra, 37, in charge of the family's rather full diary. "There is no room for individual wants."
The annual budget is about 1.2 million rupees (£14,000) while a further £3,500 goes on clothing, medicines and farm labour. Annually they consume about 132,000 lb of millet and 33,000 lb of wheat in addition to home-grown vegetables. The family is clothed with about 20 bales of varied cloth bought during the Hindu festival of Dusherra. Weddings are celebrated on a grand scale, sometimes several couples at once. A lone television set has pride of place at the top of the family house and is switched on sparingly for popular soap operas. "It's like watching television on a busy railway platform."