I woke up to the sounds of peacocks calling out to each other. Sturdy, comforting hills beyond a range of coconut trees greeted my view as i parted the curtains and gazed out of the window. My friend had kept calling me to visit her in the retirement home she had shifted to recently. I decided to take her up on her invitation over a weekend. I came, expecting to be greeted by a staid run of the mill boarding atmosphere, surrounded by senior citizens who would seem to be dull, lost and desolate. What greeted me is something I am still registering. The place looked no less than a well developed resort, with laid out green lawns, cobbled pathways with lush green plants at regular intervals. There was a clubhouse for lectures and extra curricular activities, a dining hall, a temple all interspersed with benches to sit around, and patches of green.
But all this was what was provided by the developers. What caught me and left me pleasantly surprised was the contribution to the atmosphere by the inmates of the place. I could only see smiling faces greet each other. I was not a stranger but a part in of the place. Everyone had a word of greeting for me, a nod of recognition, though I did not even know them. People were using walkers, some were being helped by the assistants employed by the place, others were just sitting, too tired or old to walk around. But all this simply did not deter them from being warm and exchanging social greetings.
Were they here out of choice? Or compulsion? Were they living up to the stigma attached to the idea of children not taking care of their parents in their old age and resorting to an old age home? It did not seem so. It seemed more like community living, following a regular schedule of meal times and exercises, attending lectures and religious functions, exchanging notes with each other about their families. The living quarters were tastefully done, but at the same time functional.
We all have such fixed notions about things, and I was no different. This visit opened my eyes to the sheer practical angle of such a beautiful shared life, in a serene environment. At a time in your life when you certainly don't want to worry about bill payments, house maintenance, leaking roofs and garbage disposal, such a living seemed god sent. Then why do we look at such community living with such a negative opinion, and in such a judgemental view? Why can't we accept that "The old order changeth giving place to new", with grace?
But all this was what was provided by the developers. What caught me and left me pleasantly surprised was the contribution to the atmosphere by the inmates of the place. I could only see smiling faces greet each other. I was not a stranger but a part in of the place. Everyone had a word of greeting for me, a nod of recognition, though I did not even know them. People were using walkers, some were being helped by the assistants employed by the place, others were just sitting, too tired or old to walk around. But all this simply did not deter them from being warm and exchanging social greetings.
Were they here out of choice? Or compulsion? Were they living up to the stigma attached to the idea of children not taking care of their parents in their old age and resorting to an old age home? It did not seem so. It seemed more like community living, following a regular schedule of meal times and exercises, attending lectures and religious functions, exchanging notes with each other about their families. The living quarters were tastefully done, but at the same time functional.
We all have such fixed notions about things, and I was no different. This visit opened my eyes to the sheer practical angle of such a beautiful shared life, in a serene environment. At a time in your life when you certainly don't want to worry about bill payments, house maintenance, leaking roofs and garbage disposal, such a living seemed god sent. Then why do we look at such community living with such a negative opinion, and in such a judgemental view? Why can't we accept that "The old order changeth giving place to new", with grace?
