It happens with all of us, thoughts come and go through our minds, we see things, observe them, and immediately there is a thought in our mind. Something similar happened to me a little while ago, so, I was going through the old photo albums that also had pictures of my maternal grandparents, and suddenly after looking at them, I became very nostalgic and started thinking about them and realized how much I miss them. I want to acknowledge that I didn’t spend much time with my maternal grandfather in his last few years. And after having this realization, I started observing the condition of older people around me in a very general sense, the time they get from their children, the general treatment they get from them, the helplessness in their eyes, the silent pain in their voices, the ignorance with which they pass each day in front of a television, finally to be scolded by someone to lower the volume, etc. In this era of fast-moving life and a technology-laden world, nobody has enough time or inclination to talk to old, boring, obsolete people (according to some) and this is how, not deliberately or suddenly but eventually, we have started to ignore our parents/grandparents without even realizing it.
ये जीर्ण शीर्ण वृद्ध शरीर अस्त व्यस्त लड़खड़ाता कभी,
थरथराता कभी, ज़िंदगी की अब बची कुछ पगडंडियों पर
कठिनाइयों से चलते हुए मुस्कुराता कभी।
खुद सहारा देने वाला अब न सहारा मिलने पर भड़भड़ाता कभी,
न आशा की किरण, न निराशा की कमी,
पर फिर भी जिंदगी की कम होती साँसों में जीने की उम्मीद लिए खिलखिलाता कभी।
ये अंत ही है क्या, ऐसा पूछ पूछ कर अपने आप से,
हर बीतते पल के निवाले को चबाता कभी,
ऐसे पलछिन, जो समय रूपी समंदर की मोती हैं,
उन्हें याद कर कर आज भी तड़प जाता कभी।
अंत में, मृत्यु के आगोश में धीमे धीमे जाते हुए
जिंदगी के कड़वे सच को समझता कभी,
और फिर एक दिन सारे बंधनो को चीर
चला जाता ये जीर्ण शीर्ण वृद्ध शरीर।
नमन खरे
We just want to talk about numbers, figures, materials, growth, and progress, no one wants to talk about feelings, emotions, love, or warmth but trust me, we have become a part of a race, an oblivious race towards nothingness. No gadgets, devices, resources, or any other alternative can replace human warmth and these are not the things they crave, they just want some quality time from their children, grandchildren, and family. And not just this aspect but also the amount of experience, laad-pyar we receive from them is invaluable. I didn’t intend to write but all these thoughts, when I jotted them down, got structured into a poem. Through this, I want to send out a message to everyone, that its high time we acknowledge this important issue which has gained momentum in the recent past, and start spending some time with our parents/grandparents, sit with them, talk to them, who knows, they could be our best friends.
