[Reader-list] Aasahaye Mahanagar V

[mohd syed]

In continuing my work on reading Delhi from the perspective of helpline workers, recently  I  went to  attend a symposium organized by a foundation on rights and needs of elderly, it was held at Indian Habitat Center and more than 60 people came to attend it . Majority of the participants were 'senior citizen', (may be because younger generation do not put this agenda on  their priority). The reason behind my presence was the fact that  foundation also runs a helpline for old age people in Delhi . After being there I got to know  few concerns of the old age people , I met few people working with elderly, and volunteers of old age helpline. Then later on I went to the helpline 
  and interacted with volunteers to saw and capture some glimpse of the 
  aging city.
  
The Aging city
With the sensex touching the highest point and youngster loosing 
  control on music, ‘here and now’ seems the appropriate philosophy of 
  life. if seen through the eyes of Mr Mathur a  volunteer in the helpline for senior citizen, The picture is  a little gloomy . he shared with me that one faces alot of many challenges as he crosses   60 ( some times a little earlier or later),  with memory getting weak, body fragile and prone to ailments & infections and decrease in most of capabilities even the simplest task become hard to accomplish. With the increase in longevity and the fear of remaining 'alone' and of 'dying', as near and dear ones starts going away, the old age people are left with loneliness, despair and alienation.  According to him older people want  respect ,companionship and opportunities to live with their beliefs and dignity, on their little bit of pension and savings or on children, but the ever-increasing 'cost of living  in a city' is creating barriers in doing so.  Their dignity and self-respect is shattered in the harsh encounter with the younger generation. with rapid urbanization their
 joint family ‘dream’ is only left in drama, even if the youngsters are concerned about the senior citizens they don’t get enough time from jobs to know their needs as they are busy in fulfilling requirments  of the family in this cut throat competition , as a result all that comes in the share of older people  is weakness, arthritis, all type of ailments, body ache, sleeplessness and feeling of uselessness . 
   Mr Mathur said that Being 66 himself  he is able to empathize with the clients who contact them through phone or personally, when they ventilate their feelings, when they abuse their son, or in-laws or the helpline worker himself, he know how it feels when one has to travel in buses, and walk in bright sun to save money for other priorities when there are less chances of extra income. He also knows the pain of not being taken seriously and not able to comprehend the situation quickly. After being attached to organization he once again found himself part of mainstream. 
   He also stated that no young person can do counselling at old age helpline as old person do because they can not understand 'our' situation ,but he clarified that the helpline also need young people to run around and do all the leg work to assist old people in distress and to respond to their call. 
  The 'call' for help by senior citizen  can be understood through the number of  cases recieved by the helpline ,as it is one form of   'their voices'. since 1999 the helpline has so far received over 124326 calls and visits seeking help. An overwhelming 17368 were predominantly of legal/medical and financial nature as on March31st þ 2006, other social problems (16099) followed by loneliness (15971) pension fund/insurance issues accounted for 14913, regarding relationship with family members  were 12718 and rest were about general inquires.In general following are some of the ‘help’ provided to senior citizens:
  
Guidance in getting medical/shelter aid from govt as well as Non-govt agencies
Submission of claim forms with concerned authorities
Counseling for psychological, emotional problems.
Interaction with family members, relatives, friends etc.
Restoration of basic facilities like water phone &electricity

   
  Questions that arise in my mind:
  Our needs wants and desire require fulfillment of some sort or another ,but when should we name them as services ,facilities or help?
  What is 'help' ?
  How many classification of citizenship can we do in a city, senior , responsible ,antisocial ,differently abled,secondary,indegenious, migrant,refugee, marginalised?

   
   
   
  feedback and suggestions are invited
  yunus

				
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