A new start to an ending !

He smiled with a toothless grin. His laughter seemed still more lavish.. There was no prudence in his expression of emotions.. Sometimes laughing to heart’s content while at still other times crying out aloud till some attentive soul rushed to his rescue. Hunger, boredom, mirth or pain, he had a unique call and gesture for everything.

The lady stroked his sparse hair many times. Care, concern and love.. she showered everything through her patient hands. The insatiable heart enjoyed it all.. and yearned for more. Slowly the lady brought up the bowl of food to his mouth and tried nourishing a few spoonful of unpalatable stuff. Seconds later he rejected the food. No amount of cajoling would suffice to make him gobble all of it. He was in his own sweet world, of undivided attention, and the company of loved ones. As the little digested remains found its way out, the lady softly loosened the strings of his lower garment and with the same patience and love that exuded from every pore of her, wiped his back with a damp towel. He stirred not at anything.. everything around him was sheer bliss.. He cared not whether he ate or not.. cared not about money and wealth.. not of his survival ahead.. neither of what people thought of him.. He was the wisest of the lot, having known the right value of things that mattered most to mankind. Love & attention !! and he wanted them all..

My eyes flushed spontaneously.. and I knew not what I felt… sad or actually happy.. knew not what I was intently looking at.. The ailing old in his death-bed or ‘The curious case of Benjamin Button’ ?!!

 

---I was inspired to write this piece after I witnessed a very old patient (say aged 85) being brought in to rehabilitation centre for physiotherapy. People around them sort of glanced doubtful eyes if it would be a case of success going ahead. People even sometimes pointed out to his family members that such patients should rather be taken care of at home and it might be a waste to bring him in everyday so strenuously. I watched with awe how his loved ones were unruffled with such comments and carried on with their enquiry with the concerned paramedics and even eagerly followed their instructions. The old man himself showed vigour to learn things in order to improve, believing that he would again be able to regain his lost mobility. He shrieked at the errors of his son and grand-children while longingly looking around for their support and voice. Such is a case of people who are blessed with many loved ones in their family… people who value his presence.. people for whom taking care of him isn’t really a burden. Nevertheless the staff around took good care to see every possible help could be extended. I later realised that for the medico staff it might have meant just another case while for many it was a life..  life all so precious to their own young hearts !

This piece might be seen in a different connotation, but the message is similar. Even the oldest of the old do not shed off their hopes of a good life till their end. So, no matter what pain it takes we should respect their emotions and their right to live a dignified, comfortable life. Blessed are the people who have the overarching presence of the old at home. Its up to the hearts to decide whether to look at them from the point of degenerating gerontology or the presence of profound experience and limitless charm at home.