On the last day of our induction program, dated
30th June, 2012, we, the first batch of campus recruits (we also call ourselves
the SAP Kickers) accompanied by two members of the CSR team visited OmAshram, a
home for the elderly. Initially, it was difficult to discern how we would
interact with the people there as none of us in the batch knew Kannada.
However, the words 'Ajja' and 'Ajji' (Thank you Google Translate!)
complementing a cheerful ‘namaste’ did the trick and brought a smile on their
wrinkled faces.
We had the
opportunity to spend a day with people in the age group of 65 to 95, healthy
and sick, educated and illiterate, natives and multi-lingual. We heard stories
from one Ajji who was alive during Nehruji's ‘Tryst with destiny’ speech and
how she is still a member of a library. She was 91 years old and had almost
traveled to all corners of India. One Ajji refused to speak to us in English
although she knew the language because Hindi was the national language and she
kept recollecting ‘Vijay vishwa thiranga pyara’. There was another Ajji who did
palm reading for a friend and also advised another friend not to wear huge
ear-rings like the ones she was wearing that day. We were advised on how to
save our money and when to get married too!
Amidst all the fun and excitement, we also had a
reality check on the sorry state of the elderly around us. We heard stories of
people whose children were living in Bangalore and yet they ended up being in OmAshram.
But they never complained. They still think high of their children and respect
their views on busy lives. One of the Ajjis shared with us her story of how she
was merely being treated as a migration package and had to move into her three
kids' homes on a quarterly basis. She desired to be in a permanent place and
not see her kids fight for their privacy. There was one Ajji who just lied down
and kept staring at us. Upon enquiry, one of the caretakers told us that her
family crushed her food pipe and suffocated her. It is baffling to think that
one could suffocate one's own parent who once nurtured you. We also had an
opportunity to talk to an Ajja who had voluntarily run out of the house because
he was being kept in the house for the sake of social dignity. One of the most
touching stories was of an Ajji who had come to OmAshram like any other elderly
person but upon looking at the plight of the other senior citizens and considering herself to be
comparatively physically fit (mentally and emotionally, we doubt!), she decided
to take care of the ailing elderly and earn a small living for herself.
They
all consider each other their friends, siblings and family. Their gladdened
faces as we shared lunch with them and the tears that rolled down their eyes as
we left the place by early evening made a friend question if it was better to
die young than to die old and abandoned.
Amidst all these stories, I am left wondering
who is wrong. Are we, the younger generation getting more ambitious, selfish
and loveless? Are the elderly demanding and expecting more from us? Or is it
that the very existence of old age homes giving us a reason good enough to
support both my above queries?
Shakespeare
rightly describes this age in 'All the
world's a stage' where he says,
“..Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.”
We often forget
that our elderly are in the stage of second childishness minus the innocence
and probably the cuteness of a child. But looks like the remaining part of the
poem very much holds true in today's scenario. They are in a state of mere
oblivion and most certainly, sans everything. Yes, they drop food. Yes, they
complain. Yes, they maybe irritating at times. But if we have had a good
childhood, our parents definitely deserve an even better second childhood.
