Old Age

Hi Aamir, I saw the episode based on old home, was surprised, astonished and sad. It reminded me of my dad's maternal granny. She is very old, not sure about her exact age. My is 58, my granny got married at 20, and her mom, i.e my dad's maternal grandmom or naani at 17, so you can imagine her approx age as 95. She has 4 daughters and 1 son. All of her kids, and kids to kids are married, have childern, grand childern and are well settled. Still its so surprising, that she stays alone. Her so-called son, whom she was once proud of, denied to take care of her, her daughter in law and their childern, abused her, beat her up, took all her possessions and later accussed her of theft and threw her out of their house....with her son maintaining all his silence. She now stays alone, cooks her own food and takes care of her with a help of a maid. Thanks to her husband's pension. Her 2nd and 3rd daughter takes care of her often. My dad and mum visits her frequently. Am her great grand child. I take a lesson from what has happened to her. Whatever we do to our parents today, we have to get it back from our kids, my mum says that and I believe it. My dad doesn't have a son, but i will ensure they never feel the absence of one. I strongly support Satyamev Jayate for its initiative towards noble cause, and also wherever possible, i will put my efforts for a better place to live in.

having been working in Mother Teresa's home for the dying and destitute in kolkata as a volunteer for over 10 years, i came across many cases of seniors being abandoned by their children, either we picked them up from the street or they were left outside the door step of our home. but some may be out of good reason, like a poor son couldn't feed himself and his mother and he decided to leave his mother to us, thinking that at least she could get food and care from us. of course there are many more sad cases as what were shown in your programme. as a foreigner living here in india for over 10 years, i think i have only came across 5 indian couples who would teach their children to consider the feeling and care for the well being of the people who are beyond the family circles. i hope and i believe there are many more such couples out there which, unfortunately, i haven't come across yet. what i mean to say is, as parent, especially mothers, if they can teach their children to love, not only himself or herself or parents or family members, but also the unknown others who need love and care, help them to develop and nurture that kind of selfless love, then no children would become selfish and loveless when they grow old. interesting thing is, we volunteers come from different parts of the world, while we were feeding, bathing, washing and nursing the seniors here in this home, we couldn't help ourselves wondering if we can treat those seniors who are unknown to us with such love and tenderness, then why can't we do the same thing at home, to our parents! so, ended up, many volunteers loving their own parents more after working in this home. after working in the home in kolkata for 2 weeks, a chinese volunteer decided to call his mother in china everyday to tell her he loves her and he misses her. there is one chinese saying: "you sow seed of gourd, you get gourd, you sow seed of beans, you get beans." so, you sow seed of love, you won't get negligence, indifference or even cruelty.

Hello Amir sir I am writing this just to show how valuable and important parents are to me and it should be the same to all of us. Before I start my story a big salute to you sir what you are doing is making us Indian proud and at the same time showing the mirror to the country about what really is going on. I am Ravinder basically from Nagpur but now lives in Canada, I was born when my had nothing, they were poor and at the same time the family was big being a joint family. I am very proud person to have three mothers in my life. Don’t be amazed it’s my mother, my grandmother and my Bhua (aunt). The love I have got from my three mothers cannot be put in words. I still remember those days when my grandmother had too little to serve the whole family she used to feed us but not eat anything. How can I forget the days when my father used to go on trucks so that I can study? How can I forget my parents that fulfilled each and every dream of mine but sacrificed their? Sir, my parents went through every possible pain that they can, my grandmother did everything she could do to feed us and now when my grandmother see the house shattered that she built with so many difficulties. I wonder what might have gone through her. Whatever I am I am because of my parents and my grandparents. I promise you sir that I will never ever let my parents apart in fact my grandparents too under any situation. Sir I feel proud and privileged that people like us are alive to see you serve the country. One more thing I want to share is that when someone in the audience said in one of the episode that you (Amir sir) have blood of Maul Ana Azad running in you. The pride that I saw on your face is just priceless and speechless. Sir you are doing a great job and please its my humble request to please continue the good work. I would also like you to please put shadow on the topics like poverty and corruption in India. At last “friends, money, education, societal status, livelihood can be attained at any point of time in life but parents are that priceless jewel that once lost cannot be regained so it’s my request to please preserve them and respect.” Thanking you a lot from heart sir Yours follower Ravinder Singh Cell# 001-647-760-7647 E-Mail: chintughotra77@ymail.com Address: Toronto, Ontario Canada

Dear Aamir, Thank you very much for showing “Old Age” story in this week’s Satyamev Jayate episode. You are doing wonderful job. Please keep up the good work. I live in Sunnyvale, California. My parents and my mother-in-law are active participants at Dada-Dadi park in Borivali. Thank you Mr. Vinubhai Valia for starting such a wonderful facility for senior citizens. Our parents love it. Before the park started, our parents (i.e. my parents and my mother-in-law) used to live with us every six months in a year. After the park started, they love Dada-Dadi park so much that they want to come to USA but don’t want to live with us for more than 1-2 months in a year. We love our parents and would like them to stay happy and enjoy their beautiful re-wired life! The very important lesson for parents is to understand financial planning for retirement. Many parents wipe out their retirement money on kids education. Fortunately, our parents don’t need any financial support from us. Even though we are always there to take care of every problem, they managed to save enough to pay for their retirement. Kids education is necessary but never pay so much that one stop saving for its own retirement. Due to my job, I lived in: America, New Zealand, and Singapore. Up to 12th standard, education is free in all of these countries. One need to remember that schools only teaches you different tools to do the job. It doesn’t teach you how to do the job. In short term, educating from most expensive school may give a quick start, but in long term what helps the most is attitude, aptitude, and an ability to learn new tools quickly. Going to good schools/universities is a definitely a plus but it shouldn’t result in to wiping out parents lifetime savings. I am a big fan of yours. Recently, when shooting for Dada-dadi park episode, my father met you and he praised the same thing about you. Keep up the good work! God bless you!
Thanks,
Ketan Bengali.