Ageing gracefully: Is it asking for too much?
Tina Ambani, former bollywood actress and wife of business tycoon Anil Ambani is working towards putting a smile on the faces of senior citizens. She has recently launched a magazine called 'Harmony' and set up an interactive center where senior citizens can chat, exercise, learn computers, do yoga, or get vocationally trained. The goal is to turn old age into meaningful productive years.
I was compelled to write about it because such initiatives are few and far between and I have a gutfeel that there is sure light at the end of the tunnel for senior citizens.
Almost a year back, when I was in South Delhi, there was an old age home just behind my house. One day as I stood on my terrace, I saw a very old lady carrying a bucket of water, she was doing it with utmost difficulty, and then I saw others following suit. It took me a while to understand that there was no water available and old people have to go almost half a kilometer to fetch it. The home was in a pathetic condition with almost minimal resources and no help available, and the inmates fighting over petty things. The children would come not for the purpose of meeting but to fulfill the obligation of providing money. The meetings used to end in tears and sometimes it left me overwhelmed too.
Another problem that senior citizens face is that of living alone. Delhi and NCR region has become a major threat for their lives. Every now and then there is news of elderly couple found murdered in their apartment. Most often it is the domestic help, which is the culprit. The days are gone when people used to live happily in joint families though they are still a norm in rural India. In urban areas, people who are working and have kids prefer to have their parents for their own selfish reasons of taking care of the kid. But sometimes, I have seen it working both ways, say when the parents are sick, it is their children on whom they can fall back upon.
As I have grown up, I have come to realize that providing monetary help is comparatively easy. However, providing emotional and psychological support is really very difficult. If the initiative of Mrs. Ambani focuses on this aspect, then it would be of real help to senior people. She says that it was her intuition that gave her this inspiration and she wants to give a positive outlook to ageing. She is open to work with NGO's and even with the government. In my opinion, the cause is good and I wish the outcome is also fruitful. I hope that in times to come more people like Tina take such initiative and do not just do charity for the sake of it but help people to age gracefully.
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