Plight of an old woman

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Mahadevan Venkitaraman

@maha2us

Voyager

Posted: 12 years ago

This is something happening in a village in Kerala.

The central figure is an old woman who is a widow. She has six sons and six daughters. She took care of all of them and they all became well-to-do persons. They are all married and now they all have children. But the plight of this old woman is miserable. Why?

None of her children want to take care of her. She lived all alone till age took toll of her and she is now at a position where someone has to take care of her. The elders of the village in which she lived decided to take up her cause and called on all her children and talked to them. Finally they all settled to a compromise in which she has to live with each of them for two months. But now her ordeal is shuttle between different places. The sons and daughters are in different cities and each of them also have the issue of paying the to and fro fare for the old lady.

My question is how could she be taken care of? She is the woman who did everything ;possible for her children but no one want her. Isn't the way she is now not so important? The newspapers give too much importance to what happened to Nirbhaya but why is not the plight of this woman important? Why Nirbhaya shakes the conscience of the country according to the newspapers but not this woman? For Nirbhaya problem the Govt: allocates huge sum but why not for taking care of old agers of the country?

There are a lot of laws which claim that they protect the females of the country. But why no law to safeguard the interests of the senior citizens? The courts seem to believe a mother-in-law could harass her daughter-in-law? But why doesn't the court believe daughter-in-law could harass mother-in-law? Suppose a man tells he is unable to take care of his mom because his mom doesn't like to live with him as his wife doesn't like that and the mom does not want to disrupt the peace in the home and so she likes to live alone, Will that man's wife be punished to imprisonment? .

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Sakhile

@Sakhile

Dazzler

Posted: 12 years ago

Bagbaan all over again. This si the sorry plight of so many old people the world over. It is testimony to how uncaring the world has become.

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return_to_hades

@return_to_hades

Stunner

+ 6

Posted: 12 years ago

Originally posted by: _Angie_

To add I am not aware of any law where one person can be imprisoned for not getting along with/disliking another person. Any such law would trample on our freedom to form friendships and relationships as we see. There are laws against abuse/violence - but you cannot force people to get along or live together.

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@K.Universe.

Voyager

Posted: 12 years ago

Originally posted by: _Angie_
Could you suggest a few laws you would like enacted in the interests of the senior citizens?

I am not thinking this through but off the top of my head, I suppose we could have laws very similar to child support laws, depending upon how many kids the senior citizens bore, who earns how much, what kind of special needs the senior citizens have, which kid(s) should be the custodian(s) and so on. These laws could enforce parent support obligations and impose wage withholding on the obligors in case of non-compliance. The disclaimer is that I have no clue on the legal implications of what I just said.

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return_to_hades

@return_to_hades

Stunner

+ 6

Posted: 12 years ago

A good idea. Mandated parental support depending on children's income and ability would be fair. It won't give the emotional support, but hopefully covers health care and basic living expenses. Of course we don't know legal ramifications.

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_Angie_

@_Angie_

Rocker

Posted: 12 years ago

I found this link quite informative-

https://seniorcitizens.hpage.co.in/know-your-rights_56432205.html

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McNinja

@McNinja

Inactive

+ 3

Posted: 12 years ago

Imposing laws can perhaps help some upto a point.

But you have those children that legally divorce their parents, and I would think such cases would free them of any legal obligations. As with child support, often times one parent tries to show why they need the money, or a parent shows why they're unable to pay a given amount. We could have similar situations where children have to argue why filial responsibilities shouldn't be forced on them, which may be a bigger issue in the case of abused or neglected children. It may even open up civil suits from the abused.

Some states in the US have filial laws but rarely enforce them. And when a party does try to get the law enforced, they end up in court facing lawsuits. I see such filial cases becoming complicated and adding onto the financial strain of all parties involved, rather than helping. They don't do anything to help curb the rising costs of providing care nor do they help create more resources available for seniors, which is what's really needed. That and a pragmatic approach to planning your future.

Edited by McNinja - 12 years ago

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Awfulggt

@Awfulggt

Voyager

Posted: 12 years ago

Originally posted by: maha2us

My question is how could she be taken care of? She is the woman who did everything ;possible for her children but no one want her. Isn't the way she is now not so important? The newspapers give too much importance to what happened to Nirbhaya but why is not the plight of this woman important? Why Nirbhaya shakes the conscience of the country according to the newspapers but not this woman? For Nirbhaya problem the Govt: allocates huge sum but why not for taking care of old agers of the country?

@blue - Are you sure about this? Cause if the woman did so much for her children, i wonder how they turned out to be that cruel? I feel she did a terrible job in nurturing them. The children's behaviour reflects the way they are brought up. I believe, parents get back what they exactly give whether it is love or negligence.

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souro

@souro

Alumni

+ 2

Posted: 12 years ago

Originally posted by: The_Alchemist.

@blue - Are you sure about this? Cause if the woman did so much for her children, i wonder how they turned out to be that cruel? I feel she did a terrible job in nurturing them. The children's behaviour reflects the way they are brought up. I believe, parents get back what they exactly give whether it is love or negligence.

Although it certainly can happen, but it is not always so. Selfish children can be born of caring parents as well.

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Awfulggt

@Awfulggt

Voyager

Posted: 12 years ago

#10

Originally posted by: souro

Although it certainly can happen, but it is not always so. Selfish children can be born of caring parents as well.

Yes that's true. But there can be selfish parents too in this world. A parent need not be turned into a victim the moment their children neglect them. Both the sides of the coin have to be checked before victimizing one side. That was my point. My parents loved and cared for me, so i reflect that towards them. My friend thinks that her parents never really cared for her , so she reflects that. Simple. Some parents/children show love even when they were not loved which is altogether a different thing though.

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