In a new trend, a majority of the members of GenX emigrate every year to the USA and other countries for higher education, lucrative jobs and better lifestyle. As they taste success in their chosen field, they leave behind their parents to fend for themselves.
With nuclear families replacing joint families, the plight of the aged parents get compounded manifold with none to take care of them in the evening of their lives, say a group of like-minded senior citizens who have come together to build an old age home on the city outskirts.
The plight of a single parent after the loss of their better half is more worse, says Association for Social Research and Advancement (ASRA) president Ch. Venkateswarulu.
A majority of the youth had migrated to faraway lands, leaving the elderly people to take care of themselves. The new trend is visible both in urban and rural areas, says sexagenarian N. Koteswara Rao, who grown-up sons have preferred to settle in the USA.
“Both my son and daughter feel comfortable living in California and are in no mood to return to India leaving their lucrative careers to take care of me and my wife suffering from age-related ailments,” laments M. Hanumantha Rao, a retired school teacher from Maddipadu.
Fortunate are the persons who get a chance to migrate overseas to live with their sons abroad, even though they take time to adjust to the new environment. But many aged parents are counting their days with none to console them, laments octogenarian ASRA leader Nalluri Venkateswarlu.
The old age home would be a fully furnished one with walking track, yoga and meditation centre and nursing staff to provide community living for the elderly, ASRA General Secretary N. Anjaiah says. “It will be maintained on a no-profit basis,” adds M. Ranga Rao, former chairman of the Maddipadu Agriculture Market Committee.
