Senior  citizens are an asset to the society and deserve a better fare

                   Be  sensitive to their needs and problems and treat them with some care

                   This week’s post records the woes of one in our own Palampur town

                   Please read/ share it with empathy and love and without   any frown.
                                                                  And

 What a shame, what a shame!- Kathua/Unnao rapes and murders are the most foul
 What violent times we are living in, what infernal winds of crime now rage and howl

                Lament of a senior citizen of Palampur

                                              

The link roads leading to the bazaar are choked by unregulated traffic and bad parking

Hello everyone!

I am a senior citizen. I live in the outskirts of Palampur town. Despite the monkey menace, increasing noise and pollution, I lead a peaceful, quiet life enjoying the fast depleting bounties of nature and the beauty of dwindling tea gardens.  It feels divine to sit out on the veranda, sip my Kangra tea, read books, philosophize about life, dwell on old memories/heart-breaks, rekindle some unfulfilled dreams…even fantasize a bit and so on. Or, I spend time tending my little garden and pot flowers, do a bit of WhatsApping and Facebooking, and have an occasional drink with some good friends against the backdrop of soft strains of some soulful music.

However there is a flip side to my life. Much though I would like to avoid it, to obtain some creature comforts and for general errands, often enough I have to get down to the town. That’s when my woes begin. The very thought of having to go to the bazaar sends my heart racing with anxiety and tension. Walking down would be a better option but is not feasible because of the distance and the problem of stuff you have to buy and then carry. Two-wheel drive is a good idea but is fraught with risks with the crazy, सिरफिरे youth zooming past you left or right at great speeds. Car is a safer bet but then two big questions begin to nag you: where to park the car; and how to negotiate your way through the crowded, vehicle-choked roads and through the bazaar. I consciously avoid the Aima link road passing through the Dohru mohalla that joins the main road near Maglani garments shop. This road is narrow, steep and winding at places and worse, crammed with vehicles on its flanks. I wonder at the wisdom of the guys who opened a ‘Café Coffee Day’ outlet there in such an uninviting and unsuitable location. I usually prefer the road passing through T-bud hotel and the Church, although the school buses parked near the fire brigade building  frighten me.

My first stop is usually at the general post office. My heart sinks when I see the serpentine queue (or none at all, as the picture below shows) at the counter for making monthly deposits in the RD account. The agents with  heaps of passbooks in their hands have crammed the window already. And while you are patiently awaiting your turn in the queue, silently fuming and fretting at India’s overpopulation and the antiquated, medieval working of our post offices (where transacting business online is still a far cry), a brawny, abusive-looking ruffian flaunting his biceps will come and push and shove his way to the front despite protests.

Another big ordeal is buying vegetables/provisions. I take due care to park my vehicle as discreetly to the side of the road as possible and make necessary purchases as hastily as I can. But still the cop will come, glower at me and be rude and rough both in language and manner. I have often got edgy and ended up telling the cop: “Well challan me if you wish. But for God’s sake can you be a little polite please?” while murmuring to myself, “Yaar after all I am a senior citizen. Please do have some regard for my grey hair and weak, shaky legs.” The other day a dear friend of mine had parked his scooty beside the Joy restaurant as much to the side – if not more - as were the other vehicles already standing there in a haphazard manner. Yet, the cop came and ‘challaned’ him, saying: “This is owing to my regard for your being a senior citizen that I am imposing a penalty (challan) of just 100 rupees!” My venerable friend just scratched his head with dismay and despair, although he wanted to tell him: “Arrey Bhai, thanks for this great favour but what about the other vehicles parked in a much worse manner…particularly the shopkeepers’ who do so as a matter of right, every day?”

Well, I am not asking for any exalted status. After all it is India and not the 'Happiness Index' toppers Finland or Norway where the senior citizens are treated with sensitivity and care. All I want is a modicum of respect and ease of access to civic amenties. Please do treat us with some dignity and not as a useless scum which we are not. We have contributed our bit to the well-being of our society, to its growth and enrichment. Some of us retirees have educated and groomed young minds in schools, colleges and universities to make them employment-worthy and good responsible citizens. The bankers have given you loans to educate your children and build dream houses. Doctors have ensured you good health. Engineers and architects have built your homes, roads, malls to improve your living standards…and so on. I know old age is not synonymous with wisdom, but still we carry years of experience to share with you to draw lessons from- should you care to sit and listen. The least that you can do is to be polite and respectful when you are dealing with a senior citizen. My dear traffic cops, and babus at the counters, are you listening? There are still no separate windows for us at most public places- post offices and banks in particular. If at all there is any, anywhere, mostly it is unmanned and misused. But the young could avoid pushing and shoving an 'oldie'. And last but not the least, the administration needs to be sensitive enough to put in place some basic facilities for the senior citizens. As my friend I mentioned above suggested, let there be paid parking with time limits for us so that we can make our bazaar errands without being harassed or roughed up. Likewise, the cops should be strictly instructed to ‘behave’. Also, all public offices should mandatorily have dedicated counters/ windows for the old, infirm and physically challenged. My friend even suggested that why not issue stickers to the resident senior citizens for their vehicles and create some paid parking space for them in the busy Palampur market? Not a bad idea; is it?

                                                             

Hap-hazard parking near 'Joy'

 Chaos at a PO counter: photo courtesy Saroj 

                                                       
                    

                                                   

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                       Oh, you poor dear Kathua girl!

        

Am I living in a land of Buddha, Gandhi and of sages and  saints?

Or among beasts masquerading as (soulless) men with ugliest taints?

The rapes and murders at Unnao and Kathua singe and shred my soul

The picture of this cute girl in purple, haunts my being- full and whole

Her big wide eyes look so eager to behold the world’s beauty, joy, love and wonder

How could such a flower be a victim of beastly lust and such gruesome plunder?
She  with such a  beatific smile is no Hindu/Muslim, but a God's gift- a bright flame
O you vile man, keep aside thy communal brush- if you have even a wee bit shame

O rapist-politician, may God’s wrath strike you fast and hard; shame on you

May the child's last sigh awaken all demons to whiplash you black and blue

May you rot and stink in hell and burn in its fires for all times to come

May we all rise as one to treat you 'Calibans' like a foul and rotten scum.

                          ***