Lessons from the Delhi incident

A newspaper story deeply disturbed me.  An aged couple has gone to court for protection from their son and daughter-in-law who have tortured them in a variety of ways and even snatched their house from them. 

 Mental torture in situations such as this is not unheard of, but in this case the son and the daughter-in-law have even beaten the old couple, aged 78 and 75.   Not satisfied, they let the old couple be physically and and mentally tortured by the daughter-in-law’s brothers also.  One day, the son told his parents that he was getting the house rebuilt by a builder and asked them to give him a general power of attorney for the purpose.  Having obtained it, the younger couple took possession of almost the entire house and drove the old couple to a corner of the house.  The septuagenarian couple suspected that something was amiss and got the power of attorney cancelled, but the son, in connivance with some officials of the sub-registrar’s office, got the sale deed of the house prepared in the name of his wife.  Unable to withstand all this, the old man has suffered a paralytic attack.   Driven to despair, the old couple have written a letter of complaint to the High Court which is likely to convert the letter into a public interest litigation and act on it.

The Delhi incident is by no means an exception.  There was a time when the old in this land of traditions had an honourable place in the family and were even looked upon as a wisdom bank.  That tradition seems to have lost its hold.  But we still compare our joint family system with the nuclear family of the West and boast that the old have a respectable place in our family.

The loss of place by the old in the family has something to do with the value system of the present generation.  It is time parents instilled in their children respect and love for their elders through their own example.  Otherwise, their bad example is likely to be visited upon themselves.

Educational institutions must also take some responsibility in this matter.  They must organize regular visits by their pupils to old age homes so that children can see for themselves the problems of old people.  Awareness programmes may also be conducted for children in schools.

Parents through their own exemplary practice and educational institutions through well conducted programmes must help the younger generation grow up with the realization that it is their duty to support the aged within their own family and help the old and the incapacitated outside.