21 August marks the World Senior Citizen Day. On this day of awareness, I want to share my experience with my mother who was a senior citizen for about two decades, and left us at the age of 88. I strongly believe senior citizens just need love and care more than money or anything else.
Remaining in good health as an older adult requires much more than what medication and treatment alone have to offer. It requires strength that comes from your near and dear ones. At that age, they feel helpless and isolated, and become dependent on someone – son, daughter, grandson, granddaughter, friend, nurse or an outsider depending on who spends most time with them and takes care of them. For instance, Maa was closer to our maid, who took care of her rather than me and Iti because she would spend 24×7 with the maid. The children and grand children of senior citizens should dutifully love their parents and spend quality time with them.
Everyone, even maa knows how I struggled, and faced difficulties to establish KIIT and KISS. In this quest for fulfilling the greater vision, I could not give much time to Maa. I feel really sorry about it and want to rectify the err, but it is seemingly impossible. I understand why my mother was closest to my eldest brother who would spend hours with her. For her, as for other senior citizens, time is more important than money and status.
Those who know me, know that I am very particular to every duty I do, and in that workholic nature, I missed to give Maa my time, which was devoted to lot of other social causes. But I had mentally set a convention to have lunch with Maa at Iti’s residence after she came to stay in Bhubaneswar in her eighties, as she could not stay alone in the village. But unfortunately, my time for lunch was very brief, sometimes didn’t exceed ten minutes and a brief chat.
A day that I don’t want to recall is 1st August, a day before she passed away, when I could not spend more than five minutes with her because of my back to back meetings. Only if I knew that was my last meeting with her, I would have not left the place and told her what she meant to me and how important she was! I knew that my calling for work for a noble cause was even admired by her and she would never show any major qualms about it, except a line here and there directed to me through Iti.
I request all my friends, to love, respect and spend time with the elders and senior citizens at home, and then it reflects in our behaviour with them outside. It will give immense pleasure to them and to us as well. Especially, in a country where the welfare and security for senior citizens in terms of legislation and implementation is much less in letter and spirit, with precarious conditions of those who are not socially well off or in rural areas, we need to go that extra mile to make them feel happy and important.
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Elders desire a life with good health, dignity, economic independence & finally a peaceful death.
They long for care, love & affection.
Understanding their needs & concerns, will ensure their good health.
Lending an emotional support to the elders keep them jovial, which is inevitably the ideal way to live a healthy life.
However, for many people, providing care & attention to elders is not possible due to work priorities.
Elders suffering from cognitive challenges’ undergo serious personality changes; at this point they need care & attention.
When they are left unattended, most of them are gripped with overwhelming feelings of dejection, purposelessness; some of them even turn violent.
Regardless of the fact that many of us know that aging is a natural progression & it has its own shortcoming, most of us tend to ignore this & resort to an unruly approach.
Parents are living God .As God can’t be everywhere, he creates mother .
More one is devoted to mother ,he is most successful.
I too believe that in the old age , if we keep our parents in good humour n spark to them n spend more time , their life span increases .
Senior citizens inspire us ,bless us ,help remove our distress.
Lets pray fervently,Beloved mother of founder sir born as a jaatismara n recollect s her past life n enjoy the monument created in terms of KIIT,Kim’s n kiss .
She has given a sanskaar and a vision which some might get in 100 birth after .One among million.
Regards
Senior citizens inspire us ,bless us ,help remove our distress.???
Such a sweet lady full of substance and grit who braved so many odds to take care and establish her children. Amazing and inspiring mother Sir. #KLS
Seniors are always respected and should given more time with them in old-age.
You love and respect to seniors and particularly Your mother made you such a special human being. Very inspiring for us.
Mother is the true representation of whole Humanity…
“Mother’s hold their children’s hands for a while, but their hearts forever.”
“In loving memory.”
On the eve of such pious day, I would humbly request one and all to take care of their parents and elders at best of their efforts; may be the next morning they might have lose the opportunity. Great to learn from Hon’ble Founder Sir, KIIT Group of Institution’s, that the real gods and goddesses are with us. Pray them till they listen and worship them till they feel.
School of Civil Engineering
KIIT Deemed University
Bhubaneswar, Odisha
Parents blessings is the most precious for us whether they are with us or away from us. The bond is Eternal. #KLS
Old age is a sensitive phase.
Elderly people need care & comfort to lead a healthy life without worries & anxiety.
Lack of awareness regarding the changing behavioral patterns in elderly people at home leads to abuse of them by their kin.
Birth, childhood, adolescence, adulthood & old age are the most crucial stages in a man’s life.
All these stages have their very own issues & troubles.
As each level passes the physical strength deteriorates as well as the mental stability lessens.
It is believed there are over 80 million older folks in India.
Since age progresses, various medical issues happen, some of the particular known diseases usually are blood pressure, diabetes, heart failure issues, arthritis, cancer malignancy, joint pains, tuberculosis, as well as kidney infections.
It’s just not disease that affects old age; there are various other issues that govern the downfall of the health of the old people.
One of the main issues is the negligence from the Younger generation.
Old people need supervision, the laxity to understand the needs & worries of elders make them appear strangers to the Younger generation, who later regard them as a burden.
Old people are subject to abuse from family members over property dispute, some of them are even forced to sell their belongings & live in penury till death.
Many of them are too scared to express themselves or fear being humiliated by their loved ones.
???
Rightly said Sir, all that our elders, our senior citizens want is love, care and affection. We should all strive to devote time to them, talk to them, make them feel loved and important. Senior citizens are like the foundation of a home, no matter what renovations we subsequent make in the home, it is the foundation that keeps the home strong and stable.
Thank you Sir for sharing such a heart warming message, I am sure it will strike a chord with all and remind us of our aging parents, aunts and uncles who need our love and affection.
Regards
Your experience makes it very clear how we all fail to spend time with our elder members of family though mostly not deliberate. It should be made a part of our daily schedule so that we don’t repent later on about not enjoying the love & warmth of their company to our satisfaction.
Your experience makes it very clear sir how we all fail to spend time with our elder members of family though mostly not deliberate. It should be made a part of our daily schedule so that we don’t repent later on about not enjoying the love & warmth of their company to our satisfaction. Regards,
So heart touching, so inspiring, so true
Very well said Sir,Senior citizens inspire us, bless us and help remove our distress.
Very well said Sir
There is no one can replace “Maa”…nicely written Sir..🙏