Listening the silence............

While walking on the road alone, blank minded and nothing to do,  my eyes stuck on a board. it was a board of old age home. don't know why but i automatically turned and went inside that place.

An uneasy silence was all over that place. dead silence. several old people sitting together but still not talking to each other. two care takers , foul mood and mouthed. like a bad teacher , they were continuously scolding one or other elderly and those unhappy faces following the orders given by their caretakers.

I stood there, looking at those unhappy faces, trying to feel their pain. the pain which was due to wound on their souls. trying to listen the language of silence in which those old wrinkled faces were talking. but all i could hear was Oh! what is this life and why are we alive?

Suddenly one old woman, around 70 years old came to me and asked, " why are you standing here, daughter? anything needed?" she was polite to me and looking at her made me feel urge to know how does she endorse to be in this place.

I shrugged and replied," nothing grandma, just wandering around."
"ohhh! i thought someone of us got lucky to have their grand son and daughters visiting us." the old woman said. i could easily see the sorrow pouring down in her eyes.  before i would have said anything, she moved slowly away from me. and looking at her, i got my answer, how she felt being in that place.

I again stood there on a corner of that place watching all those old people , all of them would be of the age of my grand parents. all were old , wrinkled , tired of their lives, sad and wondering why were they there. after giving around twenty years of their lives to their children, what probably could have they done wrong to pass their last days in this place.

Two sad people can never make a place happy. 

Everyone of them wishing, one day their son or daughter would come and take them away from this gloomy place. but all hopes were dead in those dull eyes. i wondered if even tears would ever come down those eyes. atleast mine had not dried. i could feel the loneliness, they were in. lonely from inside. Biggest sorrows of their would be , being parents , they couldn't even say to those ungrateful beings, who have left them in that place that ," like i am , you would be!"

I left that place after a while with heavy hearted. I could feel my lungs not accepting enough air needed for my body. As i was filled with the sorrow and agony of that place and in the end i was left with same question like all those old people, WHY? 

 

What is the fault of parents? Is this their faults if they have become older now or is that they have wasted their entire life for their children by meeting their needs and make them self-dependent? The feeling of being ignored by your loved ones kills from inside.

I came back home but I could sense I probably left my heart in that place, my eyes were gazing to the frame of my grandmother whom I last met when I was only 4 years old. I was regretting, why I could not hug her for a while to gratified her unsaid desires, to fulfill her wishes she might have compressed in her heart now, what if I am not her daughter or granddaughter? Can`t i make her delight that she has someone like her own grand daughter and why only she but to everyone in old age home who are suffering from the pain by being living alone despite knowing the fact they might have their own family? 
 

I had realized that it is easy to think and more easy to condemn but we are actually not contributing in lower down such cases. It is not in our hands until and unless people realizes the worth of “Parents” and “Grandparents”. Parents wishes their son and grandsons would hold their hand when they will about to fall, care like a baby when their body will not revert wealthy, will have patience when they ask the same question number of times due to fading memory. Parents, who educated us to stand in public, who faught for us if someone scolded their children but Are children really caring in today`s highly educated generation? I have partial trust on this due to increasing count of destitute old age people in India. Globlization, lowering moral values and dignity, nuclear families and many other socio economic factors playing vital role.

The least we can do is to provide donations to registered old age homes for this increasing social cause. Charity is the need, not the cause and through donations we can help them to serve helpless old and other down trodden people of our society. iDiya-Challenge are those helping many cause to bring in front of world's eye, can't we contribute our little effort with them? Our endeavor can improve the condition of those wrinkled faces and those sad curves can find their deluding smiles. We can not much heal the wounds on their heart, atleast we can make few attempts to detract their pain. Please think about this and spread your smile with others. 

 

kaale badal baras gaye,
ab safed ye asmaan hai,
in budhi haddiyo ke abhi bhi kuch arman hai.

nanhi si ungli thaam ke jisko chalna tha sikhaya,
ab sahara dene me us ladke ki ghatti shaan hai.
jaan to nikal jaati  is bejan shareer se,
par kya karu ,
in budhi haddiyo ke abhi bhi kuch armaan hai. 
Poetic Lines by MALAY ASTHANA

                          This post is entry for ISB IDiya for IndiChange 

Picture Credits: Goggle Images