JOIN USThe ever increasing number of old age homes in the city might give people comfort that the elderly are eventually taken care of.
However, the fact still remains that such housing facilities are more like band-aid treatments which do not seek to cure the main problem. As a result only few find themselves discussing the causes behind this new phenomenon which forces old men and women to lead a life which is marred with seclusion and neglect.
What is more worrying though, is the fact that old age homes while remaining an alien idea in rural India, have gained tremendous ground in main metropolitan cities of the country.
Dr Rajeshwari Mishra, a city-based psychologist, believes that urbanisation is one of the reason behind mistreatment of the elderly. While talking to Metrolife, Dr Mishra said that in rural areas, people who mistreat elders are looked down upon.
While this alone is not a healthy reason for children to take care of their parents, she believes that this has set a culture of community building.
“In villages, children basically know their duties and obligations. Those who run away from their duties face a kind of a social boycott. This is not the case in cities where even neighbours don’t know each other. A society can contribute to some constructive criticism, but this is not happening due to the fast-paced lives of people nowadays,” she said.
Dr Mishra, heads the Sai Sahara Old Age Home, elaborated the profiles of the elderly living at the facility. “A lot of people can’t afford the expensive medical treatments so they just leave their parents behind. Others get sick of domestic problems and there are those who simply have no time to look after their parents,” Mishra said.
There are still those who wander the streets of the capital. Sunil Kumar Aledia of the Centre for Holistic Development (CHD) has quite an experience when it comes to work for the homeless elderly. According to him, one of the prime reasons behind this is urban poverty.
“There are millions who live in tiny hutments. Eventually, it gets too crowded and the elderly either move out or are told to do so,” Aledia said.
“The middle and upper middle class sections of the society are still not affected as much as those living in poverty. But here cultural differences come into play and that’s why the relatively privileged people are also wanting their parents to leave,” Aledia added.
Satisha (80), perhaps is one of the lucky ones. “During my youth I used to travel one hour by bus every day to my workplace which was in Connaught Place. It took the same time to return home. We still used to find time for our parents, not because we had to, but because we wanted to,” she said.