Students become kids of abandoned parents
32 students and five teachers reached the old age home as part of the programme ‘Swantana Sparasanam’
By : krishna kumar k e
Update: 2014-08-28 04:43 GMT
Kochi: Seventy-five-year-old Lalithambika still remembers the heart-wrenching day that changed her life, like it was yesterday. She had her morning breakfast and was resting in her room in Mattancherry when her son walked in and asked her if she would like to visit Chottanikkara temple, about an hour’s drive away.
The frail septuagenarian agreed to the journey, not knowing that it would be the last time she’d see her son and his family. She was dropped somewhere in Muvattupuzha, saying he would park the car and return but she never saw him after that.
The students of Government Vocational East Marady School spent one day visiting the Muvattupuzha-based ‘Samaratin’, an old age home housing ten inmates, all having heartbreaking tales to tell.
“It’s painful to see youths abandoning their elderly parents. Our students wanted to spend a day with the elderly inmates, eating and singing along with them. We thought it would do more good than signing a cheque and handing over to the good Samaritans running the old-age home,” said Sameer Sideequi, a teacher.
A total of 32 students and five teachers reached the old age home on Tuesday morning as part of the programme ‘Swantana Sparasanam’.
“We could see the pain of the abandoned and we wanted to make them happy. We gave them food with our own hands, engaged in long conversations during which we listened to their sad tales, tried to console them and sang songs. At the end of the day, each one of us had the satisfaction of achieving something, said Anjana Raj, a student. The students finally left after taking an oath that they would not repeat the mistakes of others.