I had written this article around two years b4....... for The Hindu Open page Section
(It didn't make it through the screening process though... 🤷🏻♂️
Old people have
something that I call, - "Innocent Wisdom."
These unsung heroes and heroines are in
their penultimate or ultimate ‘stages’ in their lives. The knowledge garnered, the
experiences established and their own understanding of the purpose of life lies
dormant in them. These ‘flash upon their inward eyes’ from time to time.
As you grow old, it is said that your intelligence would be hijacked by your hormones! This decreases after a saturation point (=old age). So, the only humans who are actually intelligent are children and old people. The adults...... have no clue where they are!
This is not to say that adults are unscrupulous but the fact on hand is obvious.
But yes, children can be very uncontrollable at times and so are old people. Notice how beautifully God/Nature (or whatever) has created this divine connection between them. One could naturally wonder why such a covalent bond exists.
To relive childhood you say?
- What about the possibility of playing actively with friends?
This remains dear reader... a cosmic mystery.
There is an alluring paean of Sudha Murthy titled ‘How I thought my Grandmother to read’. It narrates the story of one ‘illiterate’ Krishtakka who learns the Kannada alphabet from her Granddaughter. She learns it with gusto and then she touches the feet of her Granddaughter on Saraswati Pooja, as a mark of respect to a teacher.
Our Scriptures tell us to put teachers before God. This is religion, this is culture. What more beautiful can a culture hold?!
Your knowledge is a treasure that no one can rob. The reason for such a declaration is that knowledge is one of the most powerful tools to empower minds. This knowledge becomes fundamental in reaching greater heights in life. This thinking forms the basis of your character.
As Dr.Abdul Kalam, a great teacher and seeker
himself puts it; ‘Righteousness in heart
sowed by teachers germinates and blossoms into a handsome character’.
Old people hate to be dependent:
This stems from their innate desire to be respected in society. But they also expect something. That is.... constant love from people encapsulating them.
Don’t you think that is also being dependent?
Well.......
The reason why old people are mysterious to comprehend is that
they wish to be treated as peers by younger ones. They like to be poked jokes
upon, like to gossip (very much!), but they demand a certain amount of respect
also; though they don’t say it right across your face!
Alfred Lord
Tennyson in his poem, ‘The Brook’ metaphorizes
the brook’s course from its birth to its confluence into the river, to a
human’s life. At the end, the brook
assumes a peaceful demeanour just like
old men and women who know that the best way to win a quarrel is to avoid them.
Old people understand everyone:
The simple fact is that they have seen all the ‘stages’ of
life. They know what the priority becomes at each ‘stage’ (an allusion to
Shakespeare’s ‘The Seven Ages’.) As an ensue, they may aid in solving problems
that arise due to the generation gap
between people of different age groups.
It may sound ironical, but old people are the ones who feel the least generation gap. Think about it..... It will seem obvious.
- They understand the romance during teenage,
- They understand the struggles of an adult trying to strike a balance between career and family.
So they have an iota of literacy in comprehending human
emotions. Some might be technophobic but they understand the immense importance
of these gizmos.
Final Thoughts:
The darker side is scary.
Old people tend to get depressed as some of their own families wash their hands off them. Old age homes spring up like grass every day.
This needs to change.
We need them. We need them to guide us, to lead us and to show us that every dark cloud has a silver lining.
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