SIBLING RIVALRY OR SIBLING HARMONY

Mukesh Ambani v/s Anil Ambani, Pramod Mahajan v/s Pravin Mahajan, Atulaya Mafatlal v/s Ajay Mafatlal ------ all of them have many things in common. They are well known personalities of India but more important than that is the fact that they share the same umbilical cord (they all are siblings) And they all are deeply indulged in family feuds.

Their fights, whether family or business have become talk of the whole nation.
While reading about them I wondered how come they, who are brothers and brothers or brother and sister, stoop down so low as to make their sibling altercation public.

Right from birth they must have shared the same love, same caring, same affection and most of the time same disciplinary rules (In India we do have certain differentiation in restrictions imposed on boys and girls otherwise for boys same rules applies)

They must have been the best of friends; must have shared their childhood secrets, their fears, their mistakes, wrongs committed by them,

Why talk about them only, take example of any two siblings

They are the ones who are partners in various mischiefs done during growing up days, they hide each other’s secrets, they take each other’s side when confronted with high authorities (read parents), at times they even take blame on themselves for the misdeeds of others and they are even ready to fight with outsiders for each other, They stand up to each other.

Of course between them they must have had their little squabble on various petty issues like books, pencils. Pens, erasers, clothes and if little grown up then girl friends or boyfriends. They may have hidden each other’s things or blamed each other for the fault committed by them. But Sibling rivalry is very common among children

Many a times parents are accused of being partial towards one child thus neglecting other one.

These are all inherent within a family. But they are never considered a big issue. No parent can boost of non existence of sibling rivalry between his progeny.
Despite of all the bickering, physical fights, and arguments the young sibling always remains as one in front of outside world. They fight but soon they make up and become best of the pals.

Then what happens when they grow up? Why do they become sworn enemies of each other?
Why do they resort to mudslinging on each other?

Mostly the feuds between brothers are over property (Mafatlals) ,money, business (Ambanis) or fame(Mahajans).

Does the possession of material things, big bank balances or fame more important than the love and affection between them.

This sort of competition is not only prevalent between brothers and brothers but very common in brothers and sisters too.

During growing up Brothers and sisters are the shadow of each other, they are ready to do anything for each other, they go out of their way to help each other, they are the soul mates of each other, they remain awake the whole night to give company to other during exams etc but once the brother or sister is married the equation changes.

After some time the inseparable brother and sister change so much that they can’t stand the sight of each other. Bickering, animosity, bitterness replaces the love and affection between them.

Does the entry of a husband or wife intrude the blood relation? Does the other sibling think that the entry of a new comer will rock the relation between the siblings? Is their relation so shaky that mere presence of an outsider will tilt their otherwise solid foundation.

Jealousy, feeling of competition, self importance, difference of opinion, desire for high achievement, inferiority complexes, success egos and many more reasons are the cause of rivalry in adults

But one thing is sure that the rivalry which was there during childhood continues to burn deep. And it erupts again when they grow up. In some cases new rivalries pop up. When sibling rivalry persists into adulthood, the conflict and self-doubts can be devastating

Have the siblings ever thought how much torturous,painful and heart breaking it would be for the parents to watch their offspring , their loved ones whom they have nurtured with their own blood to indulge in fights over flimsy issues, character assassination and defamation of each other resulting in animosity between generations to come.

Why do such siblings bent upon disproving the statement that BLOOD IS THICKER THAN WATER.