Old and fragile, they deserve all our love

If there is one section in society which deserves our care and compassion more than anyone else, they are elderly citizens-those in their seventies, eighties and the older lot who have spent the best years of their lives toiling for us.

After years of sweating it out for their near and dear ones, these are the people who need every bit of our care when old age catches up and income sources dry up. Are we doing enough for our senior citizens and those in the twillight years who have nothing to look forward to other than a few kind words and a gentle pat from those they love most?

There are schemes like the Karnataka government’s Sandhya Suraksha Scheme which provides monthly pension, however a modest figure it may be, to senior citizens, thus making sure that they are not pushed onto the streets in search of the means of living. There are no doubt many elders who have been thrown on the streets by their unkind kith and kin who, after extracting all that’s possible from them, rudely leave them to fend on their own.

The times have changed, the joint family system and the umbrella of support it offered to the less fortunate in the family, has disappeared. We now have nuclear families, single parents and live-in relationships and where do these leave the elders of the family who can no longer think of spending their last few years in the care and comfort of their loved ones?

In the developed West, there are umpteen social security schemes which take care of the needs of the elderly but our governments will take a long time in providing the levels of economic support that these nations do. So where does that leave our senior citizens? The family alone cannot be relied upon to provide the needed support and medical care to these needy citizens and so we need old age homes-a lot many of them-where the elderly can spend their years in some useful activity contributing their mite to the economy.

We also need campaigns which will take the message of caring for the elderly to every corner of the country so that they are not looked upon as an unnecessary burden. It’s only societal pressure which will work on families making them take care of the elderly by treating them with the respect they deserve so that they do not feel unneeded.

For as people grow older, they become more sensitive and an unkind word is all that is needed to bring the tears rolling down those wrinkled faces. To feel needed, they should be taught odd jobs which can be carried out without much of an effort and will serve to keep bitter memories away. Companionship with their peers will help in building bonds of camaraderie and in sharing their sad thoughts to lessen the pain of being neglected by those for whom they sacrificed all they had.

To care for the old requires understanding and devotion and that is something that young people will have to develop for everyone grows old and will inevitably have to go through those hard years. We as a society need to have a heart for the old for they are our mothers and fathers, our grandmas and granddads who cushioned us from the hardships of yesteryears and went that extra length to help us attain our goals in life.