AUTUMN RHAPSODY
From 67 In 2005, Number Has Risen To 225
Ashok Pandya, 63, walked out of his home with his wife about two years ago to end the constant squabbling with his son. Peace of mind is what he hoped in the autumn of his life and he found it at an old age home in Naranpura area of Ahmedabad.
Pandya is part of a growing number of seniors who are forced to fend for themselves in a society that seems to have given up on joint families and is increasingly going nuclear. This is reflected in the threefold rise in old-age homes in Gujarat in just five years. A study by the Manav Jyot Public Charitable Trust says there were 67 such homes in the state in 2005. By 2010,it has jumped to 225. In Ahmedabad, it has more than doubled, from 11 in 2005 to 26 in 2010.
“For some people, family doesn’t mean what it used to. Financial ties are taking a toll on family ties,” says Parshu Kakkad, in-charge of city’s biggest oldage home Jeevan Sandhya. Vijay Pandya, 63, and his wife Vidya feel they have regained some dignity after coming to Jeevan Sandhya. Appointed manager of the home, he feels elated, active and able to hold his head high. “We are together and happy,” he says. It is not just abandonment that brings the aged to these homes. With growing crime against senior citizens and children settled abroad, many find old age homes safer. “These people feel more secure in old age homes,” says Rupa Parikh of Matruchhaya old age home in Paldi.
