This week was a very hectic in the sense that every evening we had to do some or the other thing after attending classes for nine hours! Anyway, yesterday we went to an old age home under a Christmas Outreach program organised by our Polytechnic. And I will remember that day for the rest of my life.
There were around 14 old women in the Home. The Old Age Home was very big and clean. They all had one room each to themselves. Some of them had a nurse looking after them 24 hours. They all were very much educated and had held respected positions in their time-- one was the Dean of a college in Mumbai, one was the principal of a school, one lady was related to Late Feroze Gandhi, so an and so forth. When we went there, it was a surprise for them. And a good one too, they said later on. We had a talk with them, we danced and sang carols for them, cut a Christmas cake for them and played Antakshari with them. And we also gave them a small gift of French mugs.
When we were doing all this there were some who were in their respective rooms and did not come out, or rather they could not come out. One aunty had an extremely weak back. She had problems sitting up straight and was trembling to the extent that she couldn't speak coherently. She asked us to sing her favourite carols for her and though I couldn't understand what she was saying, I could see that she was singing them too with us. She wanted to sit up straight and have a talk with us but constantly apologising to us for not being able to do that. She got very happy with the gift though she said that we shouldn't have brought them coz we are younger to them and it's them who should give us and not vice-versa. She showed us a picture of Jesus which was her favourite and a ballerina's poster on the wall. I just controlled myself and my tears. She was diabetic and had problems chewing the cake but she did not deny the cake that we brought for her. And when we said sorry to her she said that she wanted to have the cake and it's okie. She was waiting for one of her friends who had promised to come over and meet her and was upset about it. We all just wished that the friend could come asap...
Another aunty had some problems in moving so she was in her room too...she too smiled at us all the time and was really happy to see us. One another was an asthma patient and had her oxygen mask on her so couldn't talk to us then....
One of them was a SRK fan and another aunty had a small pillow with a picture of Madhuri Dixit on it's cushion. One of them liked singing and one of them assisted the cardiac specialist of one of the most famous hospitals of the city ( she actually did a nine to six job with him and believe me, she was over 75).
Later we got to know that each one of them or actually each one's children had paid 17lacs to keep them there plus they had to pay for the food too. They all were from so-called-affluent families. Some one's son/daughter lived in the most posh area of Mumbai but in their big sea-view homes they didn't have place for their own parents; in their foreign bank accounts they did have 17lacs every year to pay to keep them in an old age home but not pay their medical bills and get them food from home everyday. Not only sons, the daughters on the same level in this matter. Four daughters-- three of them abroad-- but their mother in an Old Age home. One of my friends commented on this, " Hey you don't know na...their husbands might not be allowing them to keep them. They will put their marriage in problem kya?" What do you mean by allowing? Who is he to allow me to let my parents live with me in their old age? I would rather not marry such a man who doesn't allow me. And when the girl is so rich as to settle for ever in Australia, she can very well keep her mother with her. And if she can't then in my eyes she is the most ungrateful human on this earth.
I became numb after coming out of the place. I was just thinking as to why they are here? Not because they are poor or their children can't afford to keep them. They were there coz they didn't have any patience to talk to them, no time from their busy social life to take care of them, themselves, no gratitude in their hearts to at least return back to their mothers who had surely done a lot of things for them.
This was my first visit ever to a place like this. I had always heard about them but one can only understand what it means to be in an Old Age Home by at least going there. Before leaving one of them said, "If you really love us you will surely come back." And then and there I promised myself to keep going there.....I controlled myself from crying.
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