Time to Question Inside Out: Mahatma Gandhi’s Grandson In An Old-Age Home

A human’s life is considered to be divided into various stages. In each of them an individual finds himself in different situations and faces different problems. The old age is not without its share. In old age physical strength deteriorates, mental stability diminishes; money power becomes bleak coupled with negligence from the younger generation. Kannubhai Ramdas Gandhi, 87 years old, is Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson.

The little boy captured on camera, pulling Mahatma’s walking stick and leading him on a brisk beach-side walk. He is one of the three children of Mahatma’s third son Ramdas. He grew up playing in the lap of the Father of the Nation, but is now spending the last leg of his life with his 85 year old wife Dr Shiva Laxmi in a seniors’ home in Delhi. The couple has no children.

They returned to India in 2014, after spending more than four decades in the U.S., and lived in various ashrams in Gujarat before moving to Delhi last week. The Guru Vishram Vridh Ashram, an old-age home with 125 inmates located on the outskirts of the national capital, got its first AC on May 8. It was fixed in the room that serves as the home’s ‘ICU’.  The only room in the facility with beds to accommodate the couple.

There are 81 million older people in India, 11 lakhs in Delhi itself. According to an estimate nearly 40% of senior citizens living with their families are reportedly facing abuse of one kind or another, but only 1 in 6 cases actually comes to light.

The word “homeless”, however, does not go down well with Ms. Gandhi, who vehemently protests. “We are not homeless. We are just a little clueless,” she says, “We don’t have a bowl in our hands. We don’t want money, we just want prayers.

I am quite capable of getting us out if we were in the U.S., but here we do not know to navigate.” The couple has lived almost all their lives in the US. After studying in America at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Kanubhai worked in the defense department and NASA while his wife was a professor and then a research scholar in Boston. “I began research in Boston Biomedical Research Institute, but it’s on government grant. So when they cut off the grant, your research and everything ends and out you go!” she said. In 2014, they came to India to be reunited with their own people but instead they ended up feeling disheartened and clearly uncomfortable in a home for the old and homeless.

The couple is clearly at odds with the surroundings. The home has two bathrooms for its inmates, most of who suffer from dementia or Alzheimer’s disease and the others paralysed or mentally ill. They sleep on mattresses spread on the floor in two large halls, and make do with wall-mounted fans and dirty toilets. Looking at each other, Kanubhai and his wife recall their days of country-hopping and opulent parties.

“We have had fun! We were invited to so many parties as there are a lot of Indian diamond merchants there. Then we were invited to Amsterdam,” Kanubhai says excitedly. After a moment’s pause, he says, “And now we are here.” Holding his hand, his wife says, “We are in a valley just now, and we are going to climb out of it.” According to NGOs incidences of elderly couples being forced to sell their houses are very high. Many of them suffer in silence as they fear humiliation or are too scared to speak up. According to them a phenomenon called ‘grand dumping’ is becoming common in urban areas these days as children are being increasingly intolerant of their parents’ health problems.

Some don’t even come to visit them anymore. It remains a question of one’s believe to understand the need for investing monetary as-well-as emotional support. Instead of sometimes using Corporate Social Responsibility as a method for image branding, let us actually imbibe to invest brick-by-brick to truly make it for the Community’s well being.

Not only do we need to question our conscience about our actions, but also bring about a change in mental conditioning with regard to our social values and attitudes. (With inputs from The Hindu. Article Image Credit: News Laundry)

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