Grand children rays of hope for those in old-age homes

BHOPAL: Old age homes in Bhopal are housing many who held a respected position in society while they were in the prime of their lives. They are now abandoned by their kins and families and forced to live away from home.
Vishwajit Dubey running 'Apna Ghar,' an old age home, said, "Elderly people, mostly in their late sixties come to us. In most of the cases, I have seen that their children do not want them.Most of them are widowers. There are three couples as well. All of them hail from well-to-do families."
Apna Ghar also has a retired public relation officer who was abandoned at the age of 91. "He left a few months ago with his daughter when we somehow traced her. His sons were not ready to take him home. Another lady was a retired district judge. She did not get married in order to support her family. Her relatives kept her as she got a good amount as pension and finally at the age of 76, she was left by her family in a state of paralysis," Dubey said.
All that senior citizens want is affection and interaction which they do not get from their own families, Dubey said.
Madhuri Mishra, who has worked with Anand Dham old age home for nearly 25 years and has received many awards for her work shared her experiences with ToI. "Poor people have a better understanding of morals. In very few cases I have seen people from poor families coming to an old age home. Majority is from the ones belonging to well-to-do families. Their children are willing to take care of their pets but not of their parents."
75 year old wife of a deceased IAS officer came to us, Mishra recalled. She was beaten by her children to an extent that she lost her mental balance and still is in our care.
Radha Sharma, Manager of Aasra Old Age Home running for 20 years now said, "At present we have 100 senior citizens here. Most of them belong to well to do families."
"They never say anything bad for their families no matter what happens. They keep remembering things, cry at times, but do not say a word. Recently two of them in their 80's left the old age home when their grandsons came to take them home. Usually grandsons come back but sons never show up," Sharma said.