Play addresses growing concern for elderly

Chennai: It is true that we cannot yearn for the joint family system any more. But should it stop us from building new structures to provide social care and security for the elderly? Not forgetting the fact that old age is a phase of human life we all go through, have we thought anything about that? These were the questions raised in a play, titled Kookkural (shouting in a helpless situation), enacted by artistes of the Chennai Kalai Kuzhu, and directed by noted theatre artist Pralayan on Friday.

According to a United Nations study, India now has over 100 million senior citizens (above 60), constituting about 8.6 per cent of the total population. By 2050, that number is poised to reach 300 million, thereby making every fifth Indian a senior citizen. Dhikshanya (18), sitting in the audience, was part of a mini-play on the same topic staged four years back in a school near Hosur.
Recalling the small role given to her by Pralayan, she said, “I remember having a conversation with a very old woman in an old age home there. She was very kind to me and made sure I was comfortable. I then thought, ‘If this women is so loving towards me (a stranger), how much of love and affection she would have had for her estranged son’.”

Reasoning that the prevailing situation is not due to lack of awareness but as a result of the failure to make it a social concern, Pralayan said, “It is high time care of elderly is taken up as an important agenda in society.”Also in the audience was CPM state secretary G. Ramakrishnan who said the issue raised in the play was very much a contemporary development. “Unfortunately, most relationships today, including family, are determined by money. This is the sad reality confronted by our society today,” he said.