Sometimes, as life passes by, it gives us a new lesson, a new thought to ponder. The other day, as I was travelling by train with my son, I encountered a very touching, thought-provoking incident. It was time for bed and all the passengers had gone to their respective berths for the night. In the coupe beside ours there was an elderly couple. The gentleman must have been around 80 years old. Later during the course of the night, the gentleman started snoring rather loudly much to the inconvenience of the co-passengers. Though annoying, no one bothered to react. As the day dawned, a young couple who happened to be in the same coupe as the elderly couple, decided to raise the issue. Without flinching, the young lady retorted with a quite rude comment stating that no one could sleep peacefully owing to the elderly gentleman’s snoring. She kept saying how irritating and loud it was and openly expressed her disgust as all the other passengers sat watching in silence. What followed was a very touching conversation on the part of the elderly man. So very calmly and so very politely he apologised for the inconvenience and said that he had had his share of doctor’s visits and treatments. Finally every medical diagnosis resulted in the same conclusion – Age.
I kept thinking of how the elderly man maintained his dignity and answered the lady who showed no consideration for even his age. This goes to prove just how derogatory our standards of respecting the elderly have become. This further goes on to show why no one lends a helping hand to that old man waiting to cross the road, or to that elderly lady waiting in queue to get on a crowded bus. This shows how we’ve lost all the tenderness of being humane, generous, loving and forgiving in the simplest, easiest way possible.
I saw the elderly couple get off the train at their destination and much to my shock there wasn’t anyone to receive them. Upon enquiring, they informed me that their son would go off to work early in the morning and hence there was no option but to manage on their own. I watched, with a growing sense of guilt and shame at everyone belonging to our generation, as they walked away into the crowd at the railway station.
