Twenty- five Seven

International Day for Older Persons :Motionless I lie

October 1, 2019

Did you know that 1st October is designated International Day for Older Persons?

As per the UN Development report published in 2017,

The global population aged 60 years or over numbered 962 million in 2017, more than twice as large as in 1980 when there were 382 million older persons worldwide. The number of older persons is expected to double again by 2050, when it is projected to reach nearly 2.1 billion.

As motionless I lie

I see from the corner of my eye

You, my child scurrying around to get things done.

You stay awake all night, listening to my laboured breathing.

I feel your heart race with twice the speed of mine

Especially when you feel my pace has faltered.

Fear, not my child it’s not yet time

For me to leave you and join my folks long gone

who wait for me to join them;

shuffling patiently to make room for me.

As I lie motionless, I see the fear in your eyes

when you think I’m rambling on about an aunt long gone

or of people shouting or laughing loudly when none exist

But I haven’t lost my mind

Not yet.

It’s just a bit jumbled up.

And memories come tumbling out unbidden

From my head.

For no reason.

As I lie motionless you feed me spoon by spoon

The way I fed you when you were small.

With trepidation, your eyes question: have I failed you?

No my child you have not.

How can I explain that you don’t love me any less when you keep me in professional care.

In the hands of strangers who somehow seem to know me better than I know myself.

Who deftly turn me from side to side, mindful of my aching bones

And make my bed with me inside!

They change my clothes and wash me clean while you feel it should have been you.

But no! Throw out all guilt and feelings of inadequacy

for in this time that’s difficult for

you and me

It is best that strangers attend to me as

I lie motionless and helpless.

Many of my friends have reached the age where they have to look after ailing parents. With most of us already past our prime, it is often difficult for us to physically tend to sick parents.

We are often racked with guilt when we seek the help of professionals to assist in nursing.

But does asking a trained caregiver for assistance amount to neglect or disrespect or even unconcern?

Do share your views on this in the comments below.

Ciao
An Upright Palm Tree

September 26, 2019

This Palm tree standing tall caught my eye because it was standing tall.

Don’t palms always stand tall ?

Well according to Nergish ( May God rest her soul)who peevishly pointed out to the Garden Secretary of our building society, the palms in our garden were far from straight . In fact , some of them were leaning precariously close to the building .

“Why can’t they grow like the trees in Singapore? ” she boomed in her authoritarian voice .

“But auntie , they are just growing .What can I do ? “

“You can tie them by rope and make them grow in a straight line ! And upright !”

Poor Darcy ( the garden secretary) didn’t give it any attention and the trees continued growing upwards on their leaning trajectory.

Which is why I was amazed that this tree actually grew straight and tall .

I wonder if it is a purely ornamental variety that only grows this way.

What do you think ?

Sharing this post with other tree lovers at Parul’s #ThursdayTreeLove

Ciao
3 reasons to be vegetarian: #ThursdayPotLuck- 4

September 26, 2019

Traditionally I am a vegetarian. But in reality, I am not.

However having grown up mainly vegetarian, I can go for days without any meat. Of course, this annoys my mother the most who feels that having weaned me on Bovril, I am being disloyal to my upbringing. But honestly, sometimes it is easier to be vegetarian than not.

When it is easier to be vegetarian

♦ Around twenty years ago Hubby Dear turned vegetarian and since then we have stopped going out to dinner. This is largely because we can’t share the food anymore. With serving sizes the way they are, we often have to take home the left overs. But leftover restaurant food tastes awful the next day. So I land up being vegetarian.

So, if you want to eat out with a vegetarian spouse, it is easier to be vegetarian.

♦Hubby Dear’s Chinese colleague Zhou Gou Qing was really thrilled when I decided to accompany him on a business trip to China. Having shared many a meal with him in India, he was excited to show off the Chinese delicacies in his own home turf. He indulged my request to eat Peking Duck in Beijing but in Shanghai, I was instructed to leave the ordering to him. All was fine till the last dinner when he introduced me to his favourite delicacy. It was hard to be enthusiastic about a pigeon eye staring right into your face as you contemplated eating the rest of his body.

That’s when I decided it’s better to be vegetarian when you aren’t doing the ordering.

♦In the late 70’s, while travelling through Arunachal Pradesh, we were invited to a tribal chief’s house for a spot of rice beer. Everything was fine till after the event when my father told us that the boiled eggs accompanying the beer were being shelled with generous amounts of the host’s spit!

So when you are eating food in a culture you know nothing about it is safer to be vegetarian

While October 1st is observed as World Vegetarian Day, in India it is observed on 25th November which is Sadhu Vaswani’s Birthday.

Ciao,