The Internet world is getting busy with facebook, twitter and other kinds of social networking these days. And people whom you have not talked with , in your school days or college days, have become your best friends through these social networking sites. Good that friendship start blooming and they feel like keeping in touch with each one of them which is not generally possible through the cost-incurred billing systems of Airtel, BSNL, Aircel, etc etc.. Though today's generation is mostly familiar with these modes of communication, there are people who really find difficulty in understanding these. The current generation may wonder and be surprised witrh those people. IT might be a wonder for people, who are introduced to Internet and using it since a few years. The society may wonder, and, pity on those school-going students who have n number of friends on thse social networking sites. Now, it makes us think that one day, when we were going to scool, there was one and the only channel Doordarshan, that would telecast mostly education and politics related stuff. We were denied TV access for those days when we write quarterly, half yearly and Annual. Those days are gone and we find most of the scool students in these sites. Kudos to their internet knowledge and warning to them to be careful in sharing things. But here comes the question - Does everyone know about it ? About, facebook, gmail, yahoo, google, photo sharing, etc etc..? We see so many posts in these sites saying not to put their parents in old age homes. Is it just to create awareness? Or does it really mean that people will take care of their family?
There is a world lying underneath that does not know about all these; they starve for food, they starve for education, they starve for anything else that a normal man has. Today I came across such a person. His parents settled in Bangalore and unlike other Bangalorians who speak Tamil,he really spoke a good Tamil. I remember I heard good Tamil when I recently visited Tamilnadu(other than Chennai). He is seventy years and driving auto for daily food. He is driving auto for 44 years since the time the auto fare was 25 paise per km. He narrated his whole story since his younger days. He was starting his service to help people commute sinc 5:00 AM in the morning and used to return home at 11:00 PM night. Since his vehicle is rented, he used to pay Rs.15 to his owner then. Just think how many kilometers he has to drive to pay the rent , to pay for petrol, and to run his family. Today, the autogas is saving him to a very little extent in his daily expenditure. Today, he needs to pay Rs.150 as daily rent to his owner(for auto); some part of the money to the gas, and at last Rs.100 for his/his wife's daily food. And due to his age, he is not able to drive fast, he ia not able to drive for long distance, he starts his work at 9:30 AM or 10:30 AM and leaves by 3:30 PM. Though having 5 children, he is staying alone with his wife. The reason is obvious - daughter-in-laws and son-in-laws. Just think about people like him. Even at this age, where they need support, they have to work for their food. They have no retirement, they have no pension, and they have no savings. They cannot get clothes for Diwali, Pongal, Christmas, Ramzan, etc. They have to work on thses days too, if they have to have their daily food. So, people, I, as one person, cannot educate everyone or spread awareness regarding the importance of family with parents and elders. If you come across any people who do not respect their elders and live for their own happiness, please educate them and remind them that days will pass and they will become a 60 year old or 70 year old man one day.
All, we have our own familes and getting busy these days. Just think at this point of time - what are we doing to make our parents happy - they don't need our money, they don't need costly sarees or shirts - all they need is support and a phone call twice a day to let them know that we are safe and we had food. Also, do remember they they need our support continuously and it is only parents who like to be dependent on their little ones.(For a mother and father, even a 30 or a 40 year old guy/gal is a little one). Yes, it is we who are supposed to take care of them. If we are not there, who else will take care of them?.
And if we start supporting our family, the old age homes will never exist in future. Let us spread this and educate people on the importance of love,care,affection. Ih I end this abruptly, keeping in mind that I need to write more on some of other activities that is realted to this incident.
No comments:
Post a Comment