It is not at all surprising that the family bonding within a family are disintegrating in the modern times. All the members of the family right from the youngsters to the elders are getting busy to busier. No one has enough time to spend with each other and the ones who actually get too much affected by such a lifestyle are the Eldest persons in the family for whom the wait had become too long now! The grandparents in the family who usually live at home to take care of the home while the couple (son and daughter-in-law) and the children are out of the home for work and school; generally feel very aloof and isolated. Internally they feel lonely and emotionally weak. They have no one to share the feelings and neither anyone who can share their mental space. Moreover, in the present time where crimes (robbery, looting, murders) are not the peak, there is also a sense of fear and insecurity even while staying at home. Their eyes get tired and hearts begin to weep when they see no one around them. The eldest people who live all alone and separate from their children and grandchildren; feel to be in more pathetic condition. They feel completely alienated and trust no one. But this is really sad that the parents who devote the whole of their life to the upbringing of their children, at the later stage they are left so alone and with so many insecurities in their minds. We live in such a great land whose culture never teaches us to leave anyone alone, and above all our Indian culture has in fact taught us to hold the hands of the strangers in the times of despair and pain. Then how could the children leave their parents all alone at the older age? Especially the children who have settled in abroad and whose parents live in India should think about their parents' feelings and condition. They do not need your money rather they need your time, attention and affection. Thus, the eldest members should be treated with care and compassion. Their older age should not become a curse for them rather they should feel contended and blessed to have one of a kind of children and grand children.
Old age is a fearful notion for most of us because it is that age where everything starts decaying for you. Be it one’s health or their skills or their importance in other people’s lives – everything sets an alarm to their validity. Unfortunately in India, in contrast to other wealthy nations, hardly any palpable measures have recognized the financial insecurities of the aged. Plus the absence of social security had always been a point of concern. What is more saddening is how dependence on their own family members turns into an obligation and burden against the wishes of these people. Such is the helpless state of aged people after a certain point of time that they neither feel like keeping their spirits high nor they can really give up.
