I have grown up in a nuclear family, but my parents always taught me to respect the elders, even when we don't want to. No matter how annoying the aunties are, or how stupid their demands are, you gotta nod your head, listen to what they say and sulk later in your room.
Their thought behind this was to always be on the right side. No one will ever point a finger on my parents and say your kids were disrespectful to me, and if someone did. My amma's wrath would hit us hard.
The thing about parents are that they are our secret kryptonite. You can't live without them, but sometimes you just feel to run away from everything. I have come across so many people who are rebellious but still care a lot about their parents.
The reason why I am discussing this today is because of a story my father told me today. A few days ago he was waiting on a bus stop, an old man dressed in decent ironed clothes sat beside my father. He started with a small talk with my father, and later said, "Please don't get me wrong I have no extra money in my pocket except the bus fare and I didn't eat breakfast at home. Can you please give me 10 rupees so that I can eat a vada-pav"? My father was genuinely shocked with what that old man had just said. My father gave him the money and he went and ate what he wanted to.
He discussed this story with me and my mother and pondered over the thought of how can children be so insensitive to leave their own father hungry? Why do children cross that line and send their parents to an old age home and come to visit them as a courtesy? Do children forget all the sacrifices their parents have have selflessly made to give them comfort? How difficult it is to just sit beside them and ask them how their day was or have a small chat?
This is indeed a very cliched topic, but it is a catastrophic situation. Imagine you sacrificing your whole life for someone who turns out to be an ungrateful kid and turns you out of your own god damn home.
If you want your son/daughter to be well settled in their lives, you better teach them how to take good care of you! Old people who still have their parent by their side are lucky, because they can take care of each other, but the unfortunate ones who lose their partners desperately need their children's support so that they have some meaning left in their life.
Think about it. Its worth giving a thought.
