Flowers, a Parakeet, a Raven and a senior citizen!
I stopped to meet this senior citizen who was on his way back home with a bag of vegetables for his evening meal. He lives alone. He goes shopping on alternate days. He has a one room house, and gets a pension of 1500 rupees, which is his only income as of now. He feels alone and his two children do not think of him. His two neighbours are his shelter, who take him to hospital for getting medicines for his obstructive air way disease. He confessed that he lived his life indulgently. He was not sober when I was talking to him. But his neighbours are fond of him.
When I met him on the road in the evening, he was only 100 feet away form his home. It was getting cloudy. He invited me to come and visit his house. I had another fifteen kilometres to travel to reach home. I declined the invitation.
As I drove back, I kept thinking about this senior citizen and his fragile body, but with a resolute spirit to live. He might be older than me by five or more years.
During a consultation with a family yesterday, this came up. The government off india which established. national Trust to take care of older people with disability, is now withdrawing the offer as it is not a financially viable project. We live in an environment, where financial viability is the bottom line. I work in department which is not financially self-sufficient. The world has enough and more to sustain those who are disadvantaged. And yet, this need fades into the background on many occasions.
I felt touched and moved, when a philanthropist offered to give a regular contribution to the department to make it financially more resilient. He was most generous and has done it for eighteen months now.
This world is a rich place of generosity and kindness. That is why I sandwiched the photo of the senior citizen with flowers and avians!
M.C.Mathew(text and photo)
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