Dr Babita Mahajan Parents are venerated and treated next to God in our country and this is a sign of a healthy society. Parents are the first teachers of their children. They teach their children from routine work to manners, etiquette and nourish them to lead a successful life in future. Reverence for one’s parents is deeply embedded in Indian families. Children deem it their moral duty to look after their aged parents and elders. But despite such great respect towards parents and their role in the life of children, there are certain factors which prod us to think about old age homes. In the last few decades, our society has undergone a massive transformation in terms of family structure. We have transitioned from living in joint families to nuclear ones. Parents themselves have high hopes regarding the career of their children. They send them to metropolitan cities or abroad for studies. Consequently, they have to settle in those cities and countries for their jobs. The parents can’t accompany them as they can’t leave their native place. Even if they are staying at the same place in the same home, children have to go for a job for six to eight hours or even more. The parents remain alone, isolation becomes their companion and being alone at home is detrimental to their mental health. One might feel it right to blame the children. With age, the health of parents deteriorates. The once towering shoulders which supported you now start to weaken. The visage of parents wanes in their old age. One can’t help but worry from the core of one’s heart. Now, look at the trifecta of stress this generation suffers from. Proper care of parents, job and their children. With time, their health also starts deteriorating. What is the solution? The fabled prison for old people i.e., old age home needs a better name .and should be mentioned in better stories other than where the children didn’t care about their parents and left them at an old age home. It is an opportune time to change these pre-existing notions. If we can send our kids to crèches while on the job, why we shirk having such places for elders, who also need care and company when their children are at the job. One would still say that at least the family is together in the evening.During day time,when their children are busy at their workplaces,oldaged people in the company of other similarly aged peers would not feel isolated. This is a great solution to their mental health. It is also a respite to the mental health of the children who keep on thinking about the parents and their health. It is a winwin situation for both the parents and their children. It is high time to change the Indian mentality towards old age homes as a taboo. They are a haven for the parents and also for the mental health of both the parents and children. It is a solution that all of us should think about it and establishSenior Citizens Club in place of old-age homes. We should become volunteers especially those who are stepping towards old age for establishing such clubs. These clubs should have all facilities like recreational activities, religious activities and most importantly the medical facilities. Though this is not a new concept, many metropolitan cities already have such organisations but there are none in J&K with all facilities mentioned above. We should not always look towards the Government to establish such organisations but instead, this should be a cooperative effort from all of us. With cooperation and sharing responsibilities, at least the three generations i.e. parents, children and grandchildren will improve their mental health and family bonding.Eventually, the venerated generation of society i.e., senior citizens will enjoy their life to the fullest and their children will be less worried about them. Remember, your parents showed you the world so in return, don’t show them the old-age homes. Let’s create some club houses for them and let them rejoice. Let them feel that old people with other old people are not so old. (The author is a faculty at GGM Science College)
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