Old is Gold
I
like listening to discourses and attending satsang programs. That’s my way of
keeping in touch with reality, finding peace and of course de-stress myself.
The session began with Sanskrit versa which is part of one of the chapters in
Gita. When the discourse of half way through the discussion became more interesting
around ‘why old people were of great importance in earlier days?’
I had
returned from vacations during the same time and had spent more than a week with
my parents. I was conscious of the discussion and I could clearly feel the heat. During
my vacations at my home town, I visited one of friend’s parents (my friend is
settled in US and visit home once a year), they were almost in tears and desperately
wanted their son to come back. I could feel the absence of life, the memories
of their son captured in photographs all
across.
So as
I understand from the discourse, during earlier Yuga’s the knowledge was passed
on from one generation to other by memorizing and reciting verbally. The
writing were not the popular or rather advised way of transferring knowledge.
The best way to communication the leanings or teachings to children’s and adults
was through stories by old people. They commanded the respect and each section
of society was responsible for making the strong ‘social fiber’. Hence the
stories are always associated with grandfather and grandmother.
Needless
to speak the current state of the treatment older people receive. The nuclear
families and migration for job to metros and towns. The erosion of confidence
in older generation about their own kids. The speed of life moves which leaves
less time at disposal for people to think about their old parents and support
them.
No comments:
Post a Comment