The movement of human civilization is possible by the continuous efforts of great many people, some seemingly ordinary and others extraordinary. These people, with their untiring work, have made the world as it exists today. They are the architects of human history and agencies to make the forward movement of human race possible. Hence, as humans, we owe great responsibility towards these people. Our responsibility towards the people who have already left the world is to take their missions to the logical conclusions and carry forward their work for the betterment of human race. And, our responsibility towards the old aged people, who equally have contributed enormously to shape the human history, is to give them highest honor and respect and take care of them in the best of ways possible.
These old aged people have not only contributed immensely in the human progress but they are also our connecting links with the generations that have gone by. They are open doors leading to great wisdom, knowledge, and maturity gained though ages. They are embodiments of experience to deal with the hardships of life with comparative ease. The contribution of this group of people is by no means less than that of any other generations of people that lived on the Earth before them. Their struggles and sacrifices have shaped the human fate in such a way that life is much easier these days than it was in the past. It is their phenomenal role which makes them entitled for our highest care, respect, honor, and dignity.
Looking towards the condition of old aged people in the contemporary world, it has departed from satisfactory levels that they deserve. Our ways of treating them, both at family and societal levels, has plunged to the unacceptably lower depths. They deserve respect, we disrespect them; they deserve care, we maltreat them; they deserve our generous support, we exploit them; they need us to hold their hands so that they could move a bit but we leave them at the mercy of some unknown forces where they perish in a wait that never ends. The way we treat our elders is a grim authentication of our miserable moral standards. Our deeds, or misdeeds to be precise, towards old people are depressing, painful and inhumanly. The elderly have become a liability, as if they are parasites eating our earnings and resources, when in actuality they are the guardians of our prosperous destiny. They seem, to our faulty thought process, like the vestiges and malignancies in the social set up better to be amputated to avoid any complications. For us it is better to leave them alone to fetch for themselves, to be in the fight for existence without any aid coming from the ones for whom they devoted their entire lives and resources. There is no place, around us, where we want this senile baggage to be present. They have lived long enough better to be buried or cremated, far outside the ranges of our sight and in far off places. Wherever they go they create mess for us, they are problematic everywhere. If this is not enough, we have now started to impose worst kind of cruelty upon our elders, that is, to physically and mentally torture them and even kill them to satisfy our material instincts. There seems no stopping to this terrible moral deterioration. All the thoughts of moral education, governmental schemes to uplift these people and the societal initiatives are proving of minuscule magnitude in comparison to the dangerous proportions that this problem has gained. The atrocities that are committed against this group of people fail all the claims of humans to be the supreme of all the creations.
Realistically, man moral is the man real and when morality is taken apart; the distinction ceases to exist between him and the worst of all the beasts. The morals, ethics, righteousness, respect, love and fellowship are the trademarks for being a human. Therefore, to respect each other is a cardinal character that distinguishes a man from most of the other creations. The highest degree of respect that man used to show towards their elders earned him supremacy in the world over all other creations. The respect for elders makes life disciplined, gives most conducive direction to ones movement in life and aids us to reach the desired destination. This is amply proved by the progress of those people and places, which show utmost respect towards the old aged.
We are what our elders have made us, they have invested their energies in making our lives better and they have sacrificed their dreams so that our dreams get accomplished. The paths we are treading, have already been travelled by them and it is their insight, experience and maturity which is an invaluable asset for an individual, and collectively, for the entire nation. Hence, by respecting elders we are not doing anything extraordinary, it is what they genuinely deserve. In addition, human progress is incomplete if it fails to take the elderly population along. This is an ineluctable responsibility, a responsibility that normally cant be evaded by anyone, the evasion on part of a person results in great peril to that person itself. However, the evasion comes in heaps and bundles, it comes from everywhere. This, instead of the fact that many of the people know the repercussions and consequences of their actions, they falter and fail to do justice with the elderly people.
Further, when many are committing the sins against the older population, most of the others stay silent about it. This in a sense indicates that all of us are responsible for these falling moral standards, this degradation and moral drought. This should change and change too soon. We are duty bound to do what is ordained to us, by nature, the laws of nature and the Creator of them all. All the religions of the world stress about it but we are adamant not to listen to them.
In a nutshell, respecting elders is the only way forward to ensure a safe and secure future for our own selves. There is nobody who could claim to avoid feebleness, debility, and helplessness associated with old age. One who has to live ones full span of life has to pass through this stage. We have to ensure all the noble treatment to our elderly to provide us an opportunity to expect the same for ourselves. The senior citizens are the face & foundation of our existence; they are the architects of it. It is they who made us to distinguish evil from the good; it is they who held our hands when we could have easily succumbed to the forces of nature in absence of them. They sacrificed everything for us and our responsibility is to give them a bit in return to treat them decently, say a candid word, look towards them with eyes filled with love, and at times accompany them to some nearby place. That is what they want, they will never claim for more.
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