Designs of the Heart

There are many, especially the elderly persons, who live alone, may be due to their limited incomes. As such, they are unable to purchase things which fulfill their basic needs. At a clinic, as I was waiting for my turn, I got engrossed, letting my eyes rove around. All had anxiety writ large on their faces and their expressions were varied. A father-son duo seated across the reception desk caught everyone’s attention. The father’s appearance and physical disability spoke louder than words.  His son, in the mid thirties, patiently listened to the father’s stories.

One particular aspect that sent my thoughts reeling was the state of the elderly person’s specs. It looked as though someone had either stepped or sat on it making a slight change in the structure of its frame. At first, anyone around would nurse the thought as to why the son couldn’t repair his father’s specs? Perhaps, he might not have noticed it or hasn’t got the time to repair it. Otherwise, the father has never complained about it or stopped complaining.

My thoughts began to prick my heart about the way we react to the demands and requests of our ailing parents? The younger lot defers such issues to an unknown future which may last a few days or maybe many years. We act based on reasons that seem genuine at that point of time but later we understand that they were just lame excuses.

My father too had put in a request for new specs as the old one wasn’t helping him. But my thoughts were regarding the difficulty of taking him to the clinic, his inability (as I perceived) to wait at the clinic for a long time et al. But due to my ignorance or rather negligence, he stopped watching TV or reading the newspaper and I regret about it even to this day. Mobility problems make the old people nervous, new difficulties crop up in their physical, emotional and sensory abilities. Even a small slip from our part makes them feel unwanted. When I question myself, I don’t have any answer today.