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From dawn to dusk... alone
By Purva
THEIR eyes bleed tears of loneliness. Their worn out lives
and faces stare at you helplessly. Wrinkled and curled up
and set amongst the "bricks in the wall" and "discarded old
furniture", they cast a gloomy picture of people who are
abandoned and betrayed in their most sensitive times. Alone
and unaided, they are searching for windows to let in
streaks of hope.These are the victims of old age, abandoned
by their children in "homes" to decay and die a lonely
death.
The first question that props up in the mind is: Do these
parents, who give you life, and love, spend their youthful
years to nourish you, educate you, to meet your demands,
deserve to be dumped like that? Don’t they have the right to
expect ‘a little’ from their own children — a little love
and affection in return? All through their lives they slog
to make life easier for their children, with whatever is
within their reach, yet they have no one to love them in
their loneliest and fading moments.
A visit to a home for the aged arouses strange feelings, and
questions of all sorts crop up in one’s mind. They are
alone, absolutely alone, homeless, desolate , betrayed,
abandoned and long for a caring touch and someone who could
listen to them. They sit quietly, staring out of the "cells"
allotted to them. The air seems full of gloom and pessimism.
Each day drags, not in hope — but despair! Their silent
acceptance of lovelessness is felt and heard, if you happen
to visit any of these ‘homes’. The helpless, scared, hurt,
discarded souls are found huddled in one corner or the
other.
If you reach out, they pour out their agonies. The long and
lonely hours cast dark and long shadows on their lives.
They sit silently through each day and night, waiting for
someone to rescue them from the dark tunnel. They survive
each day, thinking of the good old days.
All they long for is love. They want to be felt and touched
by the ones who have abandoned them. Looking at their
questioning faces, one wonders... What have they done to
deserve this kind of treatment? Who will hear their cries
and comfort them? Who will show them that they are loved and
cared for?
The helpless anger felt at the manner in which the aged have
been forgotten questions the very existence of certain
relations and norms prevalent in our society. Why do we
forget that ‘old age’ will overtake us in the future? Do
children ever realise the sacrifices, pains and troubles
their parents took to make them what they are today?
These victims are made to renounce their family life against
their will and are deprived of love and happiness. And now,
they wait for the lonely end. |
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