Withered by age

KOCHI: Teary-eyed Aleyamma, a 76-year-old mother of two, awaits her grandchildren at the doorstep of an old age home in Kacheripady.One of her sons is an engineer in the US and the other one is a physiotherapist in the UK. It was not easy for Aleyamma and her husband to rear their children and bring them to a stage of self-sufficiency. Her husband was a quarry worker and she used to work in a paddy field. They never imagined that any one of them would be dumped in an old age home by their well-settled children. Her husband passed away two years ago and soon after she was moved to an old age home in Kochi. Since then, none of the children even tried to keep in touch with her.Sadly, a case like this is nothing new for Kochiites. In a race with the fast-paced society and modern lifestyle, the present generation seems to have lost track of their parents who worked hard to make them competent to face the race. Today’s children are showing no concern towards the wellbeing of their parents and are finding it easier to leave the ‘burden’ at old age homes.  According to social activist Murugan, they have rescued more than a hundred aged people from the streets of Kochi in the past one year. “We have rescued several old age people and handed them over to police. They are often sent to old age homes in Kacheripady, Thevara and Vaduthala. There is only one old age home run by the Social Welfare Board. These people are from different economic backgrounds. Some of them who are rescued from the streets are very rich but neglected by the children. And some others come from very poor economic background and are sent to the street for money” said Murugan.Kerala Social Security Mission executive director Dr R Ashok said most of these old people, sent to old age homes, suffer from severe depression and frustration. “The economic factor is always a reason for parents being sent to old age homes. We cannot clearly say that old age homes are increasing as there is no survey done in this regard. However, the young generation’s tendency to dump their parents in an old age home surely exists,” Ashok said.