After I drifted into the
other side of age, I have added a compulsory morning walk to my daily schedule.
It provides me with much needed fresh air, exercise and some sun. It also lays
before me some glimpses that I had never encountered before. Every morning, I see a different Sun rising in
an equally magnificent horizon. I hear enchanting voices of birds. The flowers
feel better in exhaling various shades of fragrances. I see persons older and frailer than me enjoying their health
walk and discussing whatnots.
One morning, on my way back, I found two elderly persons
exchanging notes. One was asking the other about his stay and experience in the
States. The other elderly seemed to have returned back to his native place
after months. The reply appalled me. The
gentleman was complaining that he had been treated as a servant by his son and
daughter in law. He said that he was forced to look after the laundry. He had to
babysit which included nappy change. He was persuaded to undertake routine
errands to the local market. The sad narration went on until it faded due to
lengthening distance between us.
The first thought that came to my mind was that the whining
old man did not love anybody but himself. He was one of the same kind as
myself; a common man. He must have led a life similar to me. He must have good
and bad experience of life in equal measure.
Right from when we were born, we are either compromising or
surrendering to the state of affairs. The universal law is that no one can move
on a frictionless surface. Atmospheric air pressure from all the sides is
necessary to keep one erect. The universe has originated from imperfection. The
synonym of perfection might be the God divine himself.
First ten years, we are at the mercy of our parents and
guardians who generally take good care. After that it is either the teachers or
the bullying lad in the neighborhood. Thereafter, we become servants of the
employer always adhering to the principle that the boss is always right. We
shall ever remain a servant of the
nature as it controls everything including the air that we breathe.
We take care and bring up our children to the best of our
ability. Children are our showcase. Remember how we coax our tiny tots to sing
nursery rhymes before the guests. We never blinked when it came to nappy
changing etc.
It is a fact that persons feel at a loss when they are
relieved from routine gainful employment. It is a fact that aged persons need
their near and dear to tend them when such need arises. It is true that there
is a generation gap. It is also a truth that nobody stops such an old man to
remain a useful person.
If nappy change distresses a grandparent then he must wait
for the day when their children or an entirely unknown nurse in the intensive
care unit would do the same for him.
I remember that most of the time my teenage children
neglected home made food and went for fast food at the corner. Now, should not
we be pleased to find that they tend to like food prepared by their parents
after they come tired from their work place like sailors from a high sea.
An old man is left with a bundle of newspapers and an idiot box for the entire day after the
young ones leave for their routine schedule. Would it not be great and
refreshing to take care of the laundry caressingly? If you are lucky then there
could be flower pots or the entire garden to tend to.
Here is an opportunity to exhibit your culinary expertise you
always craved for. Begin with salad dressing and reach to the delightful
heights of kebabs and Biryani. You could avail all the assistance from hundreds
of websites. And yes, be computer savvy. It would open up a vast infinite world
of knowledge and information before you.
I spent six months in Australia with my daughter and son in
law. One day, my son in law opened the lunch box in his workplace cabin. The
aroma of chicken Biryani sucked in his colleagues in an instant. All had a
taste of it. They did not stop at that. They poured down to our home the
subsequent weekend to have a stomach full with thorough washings in between. I
shall savor that day forever.
You have been always craving for the true love and affection
that you perhaps received when you were in the cradle. Those days have come
again. I did not comprehend why my grandchildren love me very much until I read
somewhere that they are more attached to those who attend to their nappy
(distress) call.
The confluence of three generations that is yesterday,
today and tomorrow is what this life is
about. They are made for each other. Remove any one of them and there would be
a void, a big black hole.
Life is beautiful. You are useful until you rest in peace.
